Shaquille O’Neal peddles Flat Earth conspiracy theory after claiming he ‘flew straight’ to Australia

Shaquille O’Neal has peddled another conspiracy theory regarding the Earth’s shape after his plane supposedly “flew straight” rather than diagonally to Australia.

It is not the first time the former NBA star, 50, has shared his belief in the widely discredited flat-Earth conspiracy theory, shared by people who think that the Earth is a flat plane instead of a spinning globe.

Asked if he stood by comments he made in 2017 about the planet’s shape, O’Neal said: “It’s a theory, It’s just a theory, they teach us a lot of things.”

In a bid to provide evidence of his theory, he raised his experience on a recent flight from the US to Austraila.

“I flew 20 hours today, not once did I go this way,” he claimed, gesturing his arm diagonally. “I flew straight.”

Asked to clarify his remarks, the former athelete told the The Kyle & Jackie O Show he “didn’t tip over” or “go upside down” during the journey to Australia.

Asked how someone could fly to the other side of the world in different directions, O’Neal explained: “It’s still a straight line, you don’t go under.”

He also suggested he was unconvinced that the Earth rotates: “You know they say the world is spinning? I’ve been living on a house on a lake for 30 years, not once did the lake rotate to the left or right.”

The ex-Miami Heat star is no stranger to sharing his flat Earth theories, having once claimed to his co-host John Kincade on The Big Podcast with Shaq : “It’s true. The Earth is flat.”

“Listen, there are three ways to manipulate the mind — what you read, what you see and what you hear,” he said.

“In school, first thing they teach us is, ‘Oh, Columbus discovered America,’ but when he got there, there were some fair-skinned people with the long hair smoking on the peace pipes. So, what does that tell you? Columbus didn’t discover America.”

He continued: “I drive from coast to coast, and this s**t is flat to me. I’m just saying. I drive from Florida to California all the time, and it’s flat to me. I do not go up and down at a 360-degree angle, and all that stuff about gravity, have you looked outside Atlanta lately and seen all these buildings?

“You mean to tell me that China is under us? China is under us? It’s not. The world is flat.”

In 2019, a scientist warned that Flat Earth conspiracy theorists were being indoctrinated after falling down a “rabbit hole” of videos on YouTube.