Shaquille O'Neal made a stunning revelation on his podcast, The Big Podcast with Shaq on Wednesday. The 48-year-old stopped the music when the show opened, teased his listeners and confused his co-hosts before revealing that he just voted for the first time in his life.
"You know I always like being honest on my podcast. I've never voted before, America," the Hall of Famer said. "But, now I'm doing all these voting campaigns, and you know one thing I never like to do is be a hypocrite."
O'Neal then sarcastically described the process of using a ballot and boasted his latest achievement.
"In other words, America, I voted for the first time, and it feels good," he said. "Thank you. This message was paid for and approved by Dr. Shaquille O'Neal."
The stunned co-hosts tried to shame the All-Star for never voting until now. But O'Neal refused to let anybody spoil his big moment.
"I never understood the electoral college system," the first-time voter said. "I remember Hillary Clinton had two, three more million votes."
As the group engaged in a lengthy debate about the electoral college, Shaq said he is also a conspiracy theorist.
"Who's counting the votes at the electoral college?" he said.
Despite the risk of facing backlash after confessing that he has never voted before, O'Neal said he doesn't have anything to be ashamed of because he has always been making an impact without voting.
"I'm more involved in helping people get elected, like the new DA of Atlanta," the Big Diesel said. "I helped a sheriff get elected in Naples, Florida, in Orlando, Florida. Places that I'm at, I'm involved. Now that I'm involved, I can't say that I'm involved and not really be involved. Now that I'm involved, I'm showing that I'm involved. And I'm gonna tweet a picture of it today."
The co-hosts persuaded O'Neal to refrain from posting a picture, fearing that he could violate the law and invalidate his vote. The group then reiterated their shock, especially considering the revelation meant the basketball star never even voted for Barack Obama, who he has been close with through the years.
Still, the retired athlete was simply happy to shamelessly share the confession.
"I'm honest," he said.
According to CBS News, O'Neal recently joined Boston Celtics guard Jayson Tatum and former first lady Michelle Obama to launch the #MyStartingFive challenge, which encourages people to vote.
The Newark, New Jersey native has been recognized for his work in the community through the years. Last year, he helped a family in Atlanta after their 12-year-old son, Isaiah Payton, was shot and paralyzed by a stray bullet, as Blavity previously reported. The family was told that Payton can't be released from the hospital until the home is equipped to handle his ability. When the Los Angeles Lakers legend heard the story, he reached out to the mother and promised to get a house for the family.
"I’m going to pay her rent for the year and I’m going to give her some furniture and it’s sad because her son is paralyzed from the chest down and no mother should have to go to that,” O’Neal said.
The first-time voter continued to surprise his listeners on Wednesday with another announcement.
"Adam Sandler just released our new movie. It's called Hubie Halloween," he said. "And I have my first sex scene."
There you have it, folks.