By ISABEL BALDWIN
Published: 11:21 EST, 11 December 2024 | Updated: 11:22 EST, 11 December 2024
Charles Barkley left his TNT colleagues in stitches with his quick-fire response to Kenny Smith's innocent Jay-Z reference.
Barkley left the 'Inside the NBA' studio stunned once again Tuesday night when he quipped about the rapper, who was accused of raping a girl when she was just 13.
The crew were discussing TNT's upcoming collaboration with ESPN for the NBA Cup semifinals and finals together.
The merger has prompted the 'Inside the NBA' gang to urge Smith to go head-to-head with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith in a free throw challenge.
But Kenny shut down the suggestion, claiming he was too talented to be a fair match for the 'First Take' analyst.
'You think Jay-Z or…,' Kenny began as he scrambled for an analogy for the potential matchup.
Jay-Z
Charles Barkley
The former NBA star left his colleagues speechless with the reference live on air
But before he could think of a second name, Barkley quickly interjected: 'Probably not a good time right now.'
Barkley's reference to the music mogul's current rape scandal left the panel in shock as Smith branded him 'silly,' Ernie Johnson burst into laughter and Shaquille O'Neal even had to walk away from the desk.
A woman who previously sued Sean 'Diddy' Combs, alleging she was raped at an awards show after-party in 2000, amended the lawsuit Sunday to claim that Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, was also at the party and participated in the sexual assault.
The 24-time Grammy award winning rapper, producer and music mogul called the allegations 'idiotic' and 'heinous in nature'.
The 55-year-old issued a lengthy statement to DailyMail.com Sunday in which he claimed that, before the lawsuit was refiled with his name, his lawyers had received 'a blackmail attempt, called a demand letter from a "lawyer" named Tony Buzbee'.
Buzbee is the Texas-based lawyer representing more than one hundred of Combs's alleged victims.
According to Jay-Z, Buzbee had calculated that 'the nature of these allegations and the public scrutiny would make me want to settle'.
He stated: 'No sir, it had the opposite effect! It made me want to expose you for the fraud you are in a VERY public fashion. So no, I will not give you ONE RED PENNY!!'