Shaq to Kanye West: ‘Worry About Your Business’ Before You Talk About Mine

Taylor Hill_Getty Images for Governors Ball
Taylor Hill/Getty Images for Governors Ball
Dylan Gwinn

Shaquille O’Neal did not take kindly to Kanye West involving him in a Twitter discussion about his business, and he informed the embattled rapper that he should tend to get his “family business in order.”

The trouble seemed to start when West tweeted about Shaq’s business arrangement with Canadian billionaire Jamie Salter. The company Salter owns, Authentic Brands Group, has responsibility for managing Shaq’s name and likeness.

“Jamie previously said ABG bought 50% of Shaq’s future earnings,” TMZ Sports reports. “The company also owns more than 50 brands, many very large. O’Neal is one of the company’s largest shareholders.”

It’s that business arrangement that Kanye West posted about on Twitter.

“Shaq is in business with Jamie Salter,” West wrote. “Jaimie first said he’s 50/50 with David Beckham and 50/50 with Shaq.

I said Jamie . . . There’s no such thing as 50/50 in business . . . Who has the extra 1 percent for the control and voting rights.”

West continued. “Jamie then said he’s actually got the 51 percent on both those deals   We as the creators and talent get so caught up in our vanity that we don’t read or understand the fine print  Like Dave Chapelle said, we need to stop giving up control over our own names and our likeness.”

Well, this public airing of what West believes to be Shaq’s business arrangements drew a sharp reaction from Shaq.

“Believe me you don’t know me like that. Worry about your business, and to quote the once great Kanye west ” I got more money than you, so why would i listen to you” take my advice get your family business in order. Have a great day brother.”

During a recent episode of Inside the NBA on TNT, Shaq and his fellow hosts blasted Kyrie Irving’s posting of a link to a movie with ties to an antisemitic book. O’Neal was critical of Irving.

However, co-host Charles Barkley was even more critical, claiming that the NBA should have suspended Irving for the post.

It’s odd that West would choose to target Shaq instead of Barkley, given that his comments were arguably more critical. Nonetheless, probably not a good idea to go after Shaquille O’Neal on Twitter. Or anywhere else, for that matter.

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