Shaquille O’Neal Says He ‘Smells Really Good for a Big Guy’ Thanks to New JCPenney Fragrance (Exclusive)
- - Shaquille O’Neal Says He ‘Smells Really Good for a Big Guy’ Thanks to New JCPenney Fragrance (Exclusive)
Lizzie HymanNovember 22, 2025 at 7:04 AM
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Shaquille O'Neal x JCPenney -
Shaquille O’Neal is partnering with JCPenney to launch his first-ever fragrance, Shaquille O’Neal Eau de Toilette
O’Neal says his goal for the scent is to create something long-lasting that makes people feel good
“I want guys to have a beautiful night when they wear it with their women, and I want the women to love it,” he tells PEOPLE
Shaquille O’Neal says his new fragrance will leave you saying three words: “Oh my wow.”
The former NBA star, 53, is partnering with JCPenney to release his first-ever fragrance, Shaquille O'Neal Eau De Toilette, and he’s excited to introduce something fresh. “I don't go around smelling big guys,” he tells PEOPLE. “But when I wear it, people say, ‘Oh my wow. You smell really good for a big guy.”
He continues, “I told my friend that I wear perfume because, to me, perfume lingers. My cologne smells good, but perfume — you could smell it from across the way. I wanted something that you could smell from a distance.”
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Shaquille O'Neal x JCPenney
Creating the scent — with Amber as his favorite note — was a process of elimination. “I was sent a thousand scents,” he recalls. “And I was like, ‘Nope. No, no, no. Nope. Getting there, getting there.’ And finally, I was like, ‘This is it. This is the one.’”
Working with JCPenney added an emotional layer. “I can remember going to JCPenney as a kid,” he recalls. “So when I got the opportunity to partner with the store that my parents used to always shop in, it was bigger for my family than it is for me. When I told my mom I was doing something with JCPenney, she was just so happy. We used to get everything there.”
As a longtime shopper and the designated “Santa” of his family, O’Neal has a very specific style. “I’m Santa, so I shop for everything, and I like to just get in and get out,” he says. “I’m an in-person shopper, and if the store closes at 10, I’ll come in at 9:55, but I already know what I want. I’m just ‘Boom, boom, boom, boom.’”
Like Santa, O’Neal says he spends the holiday working. “I’ve always been working on Christmas. I always played basketball every Christmas — wake up at seven, open presents and then be gone,” he says. “I celebrate for everybody else. Santa's job is to make sure everybody else is alright. That's what I do. I don't need anything.”
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Shaquille O'Neal surprising kids from Boys & Girls Club
To celebrate his fragrance launch and the holiday season, O’Neal surprised families from the Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club on Wednesday by photobombing their holiday card shoots in the JCPenney Portrait Studio.
“I just want everybody to have a great holiday,” he tells PEOPLE. “Some very less fortunate people don’t get to do anything, so I actually worry about how to make them happy, which makes me happy.”
O’Neal hopes his new fragrance helps people feel their best. “I want guys to have a beautiful night when they wear it with their women, and I want the women to love it,” he says. “I want older people to go, ‘I feel and smell young,’ and I want people, when they put it on, to feel refreshed.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
