Shaquille O’Neal sued by longtime associate for alleged broken financial promises

Donnie Wilson, described as a “longtime acquaintance” of NBA All-Star Shaquille O’Neal, has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against O’Neal, his business partner, Michael Parris, and their production company, Jersey Legends Productions, seeking payment of the promised amounts regarding an allegedly binding verbal agreement. Wilson sought legal assistance through Ronald Zambrano of West Coast Employment Lawyers, and voiced disappointment with O’Neal, who was accused in late 2021 of avoiding court services violations’ claims related to his endorsement of the now-bankrupt FTX crypto exchange.

“Shaquille O’Neal can appear as a friendly, cheery figure, but hides away when he has an unpaid debt,” Zambrano stated. “Unfortunately, our client is the victim of such shamefully insincere behavior from a celebrity like him.” Wilson worked for 11 years with Double “Queen of Basketball”, which won an Academy Award, and the upcoming project “HeadNoise”, for which he was an executive producer.

In 2020, according to Wilson, Parris promised an invocation for 18% of the company, a condition to which he agreed due to their trustful relationship, but which was not honored. Though afterward Jersey Legends was acquired by Authentic Brands Group, Wilson did not receive any kind of remuneration for his services.

“I joined this project and put my work with the utmost dedication relying on people with whom I had close ties,” lamented Wilson. “I figured family knew better, and trusted them not to let me down. Now I feel really let down by such malicious betrayal.” Neither O’Neal or Parris have answered recent requests from The Post.