Reps for Shaunie O'Neal, former wife of Shaquile O'Neal, have told TMZ that she was approached by a man claiming to have a video of the recently retired NBA star having sex with other women while still married to her.
UPDATED: Robert Ross, who alleged to have a Shaq sex tape at one point, delivered testimony Monday. The Los Angeles Times has the full report.
That's not great news for Shaq, who after announcing his retirement at a well-received Orlando, Fla. press conference two weeks ago, is looking to transition into a career as a sports broadcaster.
Certainly, this sex-tape story seems to have some legs.
The story starts with a man named Robert Ross, who said he entered into a music-biz arrangement with O'Neal and his business partner, Mark Stevens, several years ago.
Ross was to furnish a label supported by O'Neal and Stevens with fresh talent, and would get half of any of the resulting music sales, or at least that's what he told Los Angeles police.
However, when Ross brought artist Ray J to the label, he was stiffed, he further told the cops.
As all of this was going on, Ross alleges, O'Neal was bringing women to his home, and their extra-marital trysts were captured by Ross' security cameras.
So, armed with what he said was a Shaq sex tape, Ross approached Stevens, asking for some of that unpaid R Jay money, he alleges. It was at this same time, Shaunie O'Neal confirmed, that she was also approached by Ross with the tape.
Soon after, however, Ross told the cops, he was confronted in February 2008 in the parking lot of a West Hollywood Pink Dot store by six L.A.-area gang members. He said they took him to South Central Los Angeles to meet a man who he described as an O'Neal/Stevens associate.
The gang members demanded the tape. Ross said he told them he'd get it for them.
Before he was let go, Ross told police he was pistol-whipped and relieved of a Rolex watch and $15,000 in cash.
Flash-forward to present day, all seven gang associates have been charged with robbery and kidnapping. They remain jailed, their cases in the preliminary-hearing phases.
Ross — who told police that the tape has long since been recorded over by his security system (hello, backup?) — has his own legal troubles, and is looking to use his testimony against the gang members to get some leniency from the judge.
LAPD officials, meanwhile, interviewed O'Neal, but he is not listed as a suspect in the case.
However, the L.A. Times obtained an three-year-old investigation report that strongly suggested that Stevens and O'Neal were involved.
