Shaq ignites buzz with Brittany Renner dinner

Publish date: 2024-07-11

Shaquille O’Neal took a break from NBA Finals coverage on Tuesday for a night out with a famous pal.

The NBA Hall of Famer, 51, dined at the Beverly Hills Hotel this week with internet personality Brittany Renner, with the outing being described to TMZ as “nothing more than two friends catching up.”

Renner, who shares a child with Charlotte Hornets forward PJ Washington, opted for a white dress and a bright purse while O’Neal sported light-wash jeans, a zip-up, and sneakers.

Brittany Renner dines with Shaquille O’Neal at the Beverly Hills Hotel. BACKGRID
The two stepped out on Tuesday, with TMZ reporting it was simply a meal between friends. BACKGRID

The duo arrived together around 6 p.m. and shared a meal before departing close to 8 p.m., TMZ reported.

Although photos of the outing have since ignited buzz online, the outlet was told “there was nothing romantic going on” between O’Neal and Renner.

The NBA analyst, who was in Denver this past week for the first two games of the 2023 NBA Finals between the Nuggets and Miami Heat, was previously married to Shaunie O’Neal.

Brittany Renner and Shaquille O’Neal are seen dining at the Beverly Hills Hotel. BACKGRID
Shaquille O’Neal covers the 2023 NBA Finals in Denver on June 4, 2023. NBAE via Getty Images

The former couple, who has four children together, wed in 2002 and divorced in 2011.

O’Neal blamed himself for his failed marriage to Shaunie, stating on “The Pivot Podcast” last April how he “messed up.”

“I was just being greedy,” he said at the time. “I had the perfect situation. Wife was finer than a mug, kept giving me babies, still finer than a mug.”

Brittany Renner steps out in April 2022. Getty Images
Brittany Renner in September 2022. Brittany Renner/Instagram

“I had it all, and I don’t make excuses — I know I messed up.”

Prior to his dinner with Renner, O’Neal crossed paths with Tom Brady’s model admirer, Veronika Rajek, at a Sports Illustrated bash in May.

Renner has been open about her personal life and offered advice to the Jackson State football team in December 2021, when then-head coach Deion Sanders invited her to speak to the players about relationships.

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