NOT SO FAST! Shaq Clears Up Report of Spending $25,000 in NYC Restaurant, Says he Only Tipped Staff $2,500

Shaquille O’Neal has stated that misinformation is being spread about previous actions he took last week while dining in New York City.

After reports last week that the NBA Hall of Famer was praised for his generosity when he picked up the tab for an entire restaurant while leaving a generous tip for staff members in NYC, O’Neal is refuting the size of the tip he left for the staff.

On O’Neal’s latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, the TNT sportscaster responded to reports of him picking up the tab and leaving the restaurant staff he dined at the ‘biggest tip they’ve ever received.’ He clarified that he didn’t pay a $25,000 tab at the Jue Lan Club in New York City as reported. He appreciated the reporting of his generosity, but he had only left the working staff at the eatery with a tip that amounted to $2,500.

In the episode titled The Big Generosity, Shaq said, “It wasn’t $25,000, it was $2,500. Always give the waiters big tips because I appreciate them. I always ask them and give them the ability to tell me what they want. I ask them, ‘what do you want? Biggest tip you’ve ever had?’ because I want them to remember me. I always want to leave the impression that I am a nice guy. I am not going to take credit for the $25,000. It was a great viral moment, but it was $2,500.”

The New York Post reported that the TNT announcer was having a “date night” with a young woman in New York City that night. He was at the Chelsea hotspot, Jue Lan Club, around 8:30 p.m. The media outlet originally stated that by the time the sports analyst left the eatery, he had made the grand gesture of paying for every patron’s meal while tipping out the entire working staff.

Shaq Diesel also responded last week to the allegations that he had a “date night” that evening. On the June 16 episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, he denied allegations of dates or referring to anyone as a “date.”

“I say, ‘Hello, this is my date?’” O’Neal explained. “Black people even talk like that — first of all. Second of all, I don’t do dates.”