UPDATED 4/14, 12:29 p.m. ET: Camille clarified her original statement with a social media post on Monday evening (Apr. 13), saying that in fact she does not view Shaq as creepy.
“The two of us had a wonderful time on the show,” she wrote. “Shaq did absolutely nothing to make us uncomfortable and I do not view him as ‘creepy’ at all. I was attempting to make a joke about my flustered reaction in the midst of a high-profile situation.”
See Camille’s full statement below:
See original story below.
After she went viral thanks to a clip from a broadcast during an Indiana Pacers game, Grace Camille has accused Shaquille O’Neal of being “a creepy horny uncle” following an Inside the NBA interview in which he put her and her boyfriend on the spot.
“Shaq was like a creepy horny uncle trying to embarrass his nephew and I went along with it until the bit got embarrassing and I was like alright chill,” she wrote on Instagram. “I’m glad my bf got to meet the people whose videos he shows me constantly but God I am ready to be done with sports people. I have found u generally exhausting and, forgive me for saying so, I mean this respectfully, not smart in the ways that matter to me. TO ME.”
Grace garnered viral attention earlier this month after the Pacers TV broadcast showed her and Michael having an animated conversation courtside. “What the fuck are you talking about?” she appeared to say to her boyfriend in the clip. After it went viral, she insisted that she loves her boyfriend and that’s just how they talk.
Recently, the couple was invited to talk about the moment on Inside the NBA, and they were asked what they were arguing about. Michael said that they were talking about the validity of a liberal arts degree in the current job market. Grace admitted that she found the experience "embarrassing" and that she wasn’t much of a sports fan.
Shaq suggested that Michael was talking about something else to get such an intense response from his girlfriend, and also referred to Grace as his “wife.” Michael laughed, “We like to keep our private conversations private.” He also corrected Shaq and said they aren’t married.
“If you ask her to marry you right now, I’ll buy the engagement ring,” said Shaq, who continued to insist that he should pop the question mid-interview. Charles Barkley joked that she already “cursed him out” on TV, so if she turned him down, it wouldn’t go so well for them.
