Think Progress: Shaq “Amazingly Sexist” for Calling Women Attractive, Not Knowing Soccer

In an article published late last week, ThinkProgress called out Shaquille O’Neal for his “amazingly sexist” podcast. The piece, titled “Shaq’s New Podcast: Half Amazing, Half Amazingly Sexist,” purports to report on Shaq’s animosity toward women.

“The podcast,” authors Katelyn Harrop and Judd Legum write, “which Shaq co-hosts with veteran radio personality John Kincade, also consistently features a distasteful undercurrent of misogyny.”

They continue, “The worst example was a bit from the second episode, during which Kincaid brings in three “very attractive ladies” to weigh in on O’Neal’s feet, which have apparently been mangled from years of 82-game seasons.”

Harrop and Legum did not care for a statement by Shaq that the women brought in to talk about his feet were “attractive.”

They also took particular offense to Shaq’s statement that women will not care about how bad his feet look. “When I meet her,” Shaq explains, “I’m gonna say, “excuse me, did it hurt?” “Did what hurt?” “When you fell from heaven. You’re a goddess.” You see, she’s gonna love me at that point. So my ugly feet will not be affected. ..I know you liked that, Rob. Write it down, Rob.”

Mr. O’Neal

This specific show “is the only time any women have spoken in the first three episodes of the podcast,” Harrop and Legum note.

Harrop and Legum are also upset at Shaq for not knowing much about women’s soccer.

O’Neal accidentally says that Hope Solo will stand up to the adversity that she is facing by scoring a goal. However, Solo is a goalie, and is extremely unlikely to score.

Shaq responds, “Okay, I admit I don’t watch the soccer, but I know she’s hot, and… okay, look. I’ll tell you what, I know no one’s gonna score on her. How about that?”

In response, Harrop and Legum write, “These comments walk the line between casual misogyny and outright sexism, occasionally teetering to the left or falling dramatically to the right. Casual sexism has been a quiet Achilles heel throughout Shaq’s diverse career.”

They conclude, “The Big Podcast with Shaq is humorous, relatable, and relatively interesting. But the misogyny of the first three episodes is a stain on one of iTunes’ most popular new programs.”