Ray J and Shaq have now been sucked into the whirlwind news cycle surrounding the allegations former NFL player Shannon Sharpe is facing from a woman suing him in a $50 million rape lawsuit.
According to leaked voice messages, which began circulating on social media on April 24, former NBA player Matt Barnes is allegedly caught on recording soliciting the blackmail of Sharpe on behalf of Shaq. In the series of audio messages that have hit the web, from which the origin is currently unknown, Barnes is purportedly spreading the word that Shaq was looking for information about Sharpe weeks before his rape accuser filed the multi-million-dollar lawsuit in Nevada.
Barnes alleged voice message starts off by ambiguously recruiting help, as the former Los Angeles Laker purportedly said, “I don’t know if you’re on this kind of time, but, I was in a group chat the other day, or actually just yesterday and Shaq said he’s paying top dollar for any information on O-Boy.”
The message adds, “So, again, I don’t know if you’re on that kind of time or not, but Shaq is known to throw large sums of money around, so I just wanted to put that out there. I am quiet.
In another alleged audio message, Barnes is accused of directly name-dropping Sharpe and attributing Shaq’s search for dirt on him to their previous differences.
“He [Shaq] said, please, please, please keep it quiet,” Barnes alleged voice message started off. “He said that Shannon did some s### back from a while back and he’s been off ’em. So that’s why he’s doing this.
But please, please, please keep his name quiet.”
Last month a leaked audio clip surfaced of former NBA player Matt Barnes claiming that Shaquille O’Neal was willing to pay large sums of money to uncover negative information on his rival, Shannon Sharpe. In the clip, Barnes can be heard saying, “Shaq is doing it because Shannon… pic.twitter.com/van1tR5hJc
— Rain Drops Media (@Raindropsmedia1) April 24, 2025
The alleged leaked voice messages follow details of the lawsuit against Sharpe revealing several disturbing allegations against the footballer-turned-podcaster. Gabriella Zuniga, previously referred to as “Jane Doe” accuses Sharpe of rape, battery, emotional abuse, and secretly recording their sexual encounters. According to the lawsuit, Zuniga and Sharpe’s relationship began in 2023, and she alleges assaulted her twice—once on October 2024 and again in January 2025. In response to the allegations, Sharpe’s attorney, Lanny J. Davis, released several sexually explicit messages allegedly sent by Zuniga, which allegedly reveal her initiating race play and requesting B### sexual contact.
While it’s completely unconfirmed whether or not Barnes or Shaq’s collusion led to the lawsuit itself, the leaked messages between Sharpe and his accuser can be traced to multiple social media reactions from users across multiple platforms. In fact, Ray J added his two cents on the matter on April 24 in a post he shared on Instagram in which he stood up for Sharpe by revealing an experience of his own with his ex-wife Princess Love.
“Maybe I’m tripping, but, like she told you to do some bondage stuff,” Ray J said in part. “I remember when when I did ‘Love & Hip-Hop’ and Princess [Love] had me in the bondage room. I had to the ball in my mouth, pause, they had me tied up and she was whipping me and beat me and s###—and then you know they wanted me to do that. I’m like, ‘look I don’t do all that.'”
Ray J added, “It was weird and it was painful and I hated it,” before referencing how Sharpe’s situation could be similar—while also suggesting he’s being falsely accused.
“It seemed like that’s what y’all was doing,” Ray J said. “Then, all of a sudden, when you get kinky with it like, ‘I’m gonna choke you outside I’m into it now,’ after she done tied you up, whipped you, put a b######## in you, or whateve it was that got you going. Which is to each is own, and I didn’t mean the b######## that’s not okay—now she’s trying to use it against [you].”
Further complicating matters, Sharpe released a statement on April 24 announcing his choice to remove himself from his work at ESPN in order to focus on responding to the accusations against him.
See Sharpe’s statement on the matter in the screenshot below post below.