PA ImagesShaquille O’Neal has just added himself to the surprisingly long list of conspiracy theorists who believe Stevie Wonder isn’t actually blind.
The former basketball player added fuel to the fire of the unsubstantiated theory when he spoke about a recent interaction he had with Wonder, who lives in the same building as him, during Thursday night’s episode of Inside the NBA.
You can watch it here:
Shaq’s story about Stevie Wonder had the guys rolling 😂 pic.twitter.com/OmYYbtSN2Y
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) December 13, 2019
Shaq recalled:
So, we live in a building on Wilshire. So you park your car and the valet’s down there. So I’m already in the building, I’m coming through the lobby. Door opens, it’s Stevie Wonder. He comes in, says, ‘What’s up, Shaq?’ Presses the button.
In a clip from the show, which has since gone viral, Shaq tells his co-presenters he has ‘a Stevie Wonder story, but [they’re] not going to believe it’.
He claims he ran into the blind musician in the lobby of the building they share, and Wonder instantly recognised him.
NBAShaq continued:
For real. He got on the elevator, he was like, ‘What’s up, Shaq? How you doing, big dog?’
Yes, he did. Wilshire Boulevard.
Presses the button, gets off on his floor, goes to his room. I went and called every person I knew and told them this story. And they believed me.
In his own biography, Wonder says he was born six weeks prematurely, and complications led to his blindness soon after birth. As a child, he went to the Michigan School the Blind in Lansing.
Many people have previously suggested Wonder might not be completely blind, and conspiracy theories have been going round for years.
PA Images‘Stevie Wonder Truthers’ have attributed this conspiracy to the fact the musician is a big basketball fan and regularly attends NBA games, and often gets courtside seats.
Darryl Dawkins has said he believes Wonder can see a lot more than he lets on, given the fact the musician gave him the nickname ‘Chocolate Thunder’ in 2014, telling TMZ it wouldn’t make much sense if Wonder couldn’t see him dunk.
Truthers also reference a video of Wonder and Paul McCartney performing in the White House East Room, in which McCartney knocks over a mic stand and Wonder casually reaches out to grab it as it falls past him.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.