Did Shaquille O'Neal throw Minnesota Governor Tim Walz out of O'Neal's restaurant, as posts on Facebook claimed? No, that's not true: This story first appeared on a website with a satire disclaimer. There is no evidence that O'Neal and Walz ever had such an interaction.
The claim appeared in an article (archived here) on the Esspots website on September 7, 2024, under the title "Shaq Throws Tim Walz Out of His Restaurant: 'Don't Come Back Here, You're a Disappointment.'" The article began:
In what can only be described as a cross between a reality TV show and a political roast, NBA legend and restaurateur Shaquille O'Neal reportedly threw Minnesota Governor and Democratic vice-presidential nominee Tim Walz out of his Atlanta restaurant, Big Chicken, with the booming declaration, 'Don't come back here, you're a disappointment!'
This is how the article looked at the time of writing:
(Source: Esspots screenshot taken Tue Sept. 24 17:55:32 2024 UTC
The article about sports celebrity/restaurateur O'Neal's purported interaction with Democratic vice presidential nominee Walz is labeled "SATIRE." The word appears twice among the topic tags below the headline, as seen in the screenshot above.
Esspots' About Us page (archived here) calls its stories "fake news":
Welcome to the US page of Esspots (A Subsidiary of SpaceXMania.com specializing in Satire and Parody News), your one-stop destination for satirical news and commentary about the United States of America. Our team of writers and editors is dedicated to bringing you the latest and greatest in fake news and absurdity, all with a healthy dose of humor and satire.
Some social media users have been reposting Esspots' claim about O'Neal without noting its satirical intent (archived here).
For example:
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken Tue Sept. 24 17:57:25 2024 UTC)
Other examples of posts that repeated Esspots' claim without its satire disclaimer can also be seen here (archived here) and here (archived here).
As of this publication, no evidence exists that O'Neal had such an interaction with Walz. A keyword search on Google (archived here) on September 24, 2024, yielded nothing to support the claim.
A second search for key phrases from the quote in the Esspots headline (archived here) produced nothing but reposts of the Esspots satire.
Other fact checking outlets, including AFP Fact Check, Snopes and Check Your Fact, have also reviewed this claim.
More Lead Stories fact checks about Tim Walz are here and about the 2024 presidential election are here.
