Shaquille O’Neal called Adam Levine a “good man” amid allegations that the singer cheated on his pregnant wife and mother of their two children, Behati Prinsloo.
“Adam is a personal friend of mine. He’s always been a great guy,” the retired NBA star told TMZ in an interview published Thursday.
The athlete, 50, added that the Maroon 5 frontman, 43, and his band will be performing this weekend at the Shaquille O’Neal Foundation’s annual fundraising gala, “The Event,” in Las Vegas.
“He’s coming to help kids this weekend. That’s as solid as you can get,” O’Neal explained.
“It’s not my job to say, ‘You did this. You did that. You shouldn’t have done this. You shouldn’t have done that,'” he continued. “As far as I can tell, he’s coming to help kids this weekend. He’s a good man in my book.”
O’Neal noted that while Levine is “going through some things right now,” he has no doubts that the musician will “overcome” the scandal.
The “Payphone” singer made headlines last week when TikTok user Sumner Stroh claimed they were having an affair, prompting several other women to post flirty DMs that Levine allegedly sent them.
Although the former “Voice” judge denied that he had been unfaithful, Levine admitted it was wrong of him to send inappropriate messages to a woman other than his wife.
“I used poor judgment,” the Grammy winner wrote in an Instagram Story statement last week. “I have not had an affair, yet I have crossed the line during a regrettable period of my life.”
As social media models continued to come forward with screenshots of alleged DMs of the rock star, many went viral as memes.
Despite the noise, Levine seems to be doing just fine, with Maroon 5 even announcing their 2023 Las Vegas residency this week.
He also forms a united front with Prinsloo, with whom he shares daughters Dusty (5) and Gio (4).
Levine and Victoria’s Secret Angel, 34, have been photographed holding hands several times since the scandal.
The model, who is pregnant with baby No. 3, even seemed to send a message with her shirt during one of those outings. Prinsloo’s revealing T-shirt read ‘Love’.