Welcome back to another episode of our mega church messiness series. Hallelujah! Today, we’re diving into the fascinating relationship between Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-wife, Shaunie O’Neal, and Pastor Keon Henderson. While many are thrilled to see Shaunie find love again, some unexpected details about their relationship have raised a lot of eyebrows. So, let’s dig into this juicy story!
But first, let’s get into the spirit. Hallelujah! Let that good vibe move you. And yes, I’ve brought the choir along today—hope you don’t mind. Before we dive in, be sure to check out rrg snacks.com for some tasty treats. We’ve got everything from Applewood smoked bacon jerky to freeze-dried goodies and butter-tossed coffee peanuts.
Now, let’s rewind a bit. Back in 1986, a 5-year-old Keon Henderson felt a calling to preach from his pastor. By the time he was 21, he had founded Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church in Gary, Indiana, and grew its membership to 600 in just five years. He then married a woman named Jelle, but they divorced in May 2008, with the paperwork finalized by December.
In 2009, Keon started the Lighthouse Church and married Felicia in 2010. They had a daughter named Caitlyn around 2011. According to Keon, a friend told him someone was interested in him, and that someone turned out to be Shaunie O’Neal. Their connection started with texting and eventually led to Shaunie visiting Keon while he was preaching in San Bernardino, California.
Stick around as we uncover more about this intriguing story!
On a recent podcast, Shaunie mentioned that the drive was just too far for her, so she opted to meet him in the lobby of an LA hotel. They ended up talking and dining for six hours straight. Shaunie claims this happened in 2020, but we’ve got some evidence that suggests otherwise. Buckle up, because this is about to get interesting.
We found a livestream on YouTube, which Keon has since made unlisted, showing Shaunie at a women’s panel at Keon’s church on June 15, 2019. Keon’s wife, Felicia, was there too. During the event, Keon made a rather eyebrow-raising statement: “That woman right there makes more money on her own. When I met her, she was making more money than I was. My wife could leave me today and wouldn’t have to change her standard of living. I made sure of it. If she walked out the door today, she wouldn’t be on an air mattress.”
So, Keon, you’re bragging about ensuring your wife is the primary breadwinner, suggesting you didn’t pull your weight? That’s a head-scratcher. Anyway, back to the timeline. The event was on June 15, 2019, while Shaunie says she didn’t meet Keon until 2020. That livestream proves this timeline is off.
Shaunie also mentioned that Keon invited her to see him preach at a church in San Bernardino. We’ve verified that his San Bernardino sermon was right after Shaunie’s church panel appearance. There’s a video from July 6, 2019, of his sermon. So, the real sequence seems to be: Shaunie spoke at Keon’s church on July 15, 2019. Even though Keon was married, they exchanged contact info, and he invited her to his July 2019 San Bernardino event. Shaunie turned down the invitation because of the distance and met him in the LA hotel lobby instead. So, their first meeting actually happened in 2019, not 2020 as Shaunie claims. This might explain why Keon unlisted the June 2019 video of Shaunie, revealing a gap in their story about when they first met.
Just four months after Shaunie spoke at his church, Keon filed for divorce. During a joint appearance, he mentioned that the next time he saw Shaunie was on Christmas when she surprised him with a visit to Texas. He was feeling down and frustrated about spending the holiday alone, and Shaunie’s visit came right after his ex-wife had dropped off their daughter to spend time with him. This likely refers to Christmas 2019, just two months after Keon’s divorce from Felicia. Interestingly, Shaunie left her five kids behind to be with Keon and his daughter for part of the day. She noted, “I literally went for a matter of hours and went back home to my babies.” Despite this, Keon insisted that they were just friends.
At his church’s annual Cry Out conference, Keon opened up about the pain of divorce, mentioning that Shaunie, who had also been through two divorces, understood his struggles. For more on Shaunie’s dating history, check out the link in our description box. Keon admitted, “I didn’t want to get married and stay married because I was afraid of another divorce.” He questioned why someone would jump straight to divorce without trying counseling first or seeking help if things went wrong. “Why is your first thought to just get a divorce if things aren’t working out?” he wondered.
Keon also confessed that he started to self-sabotage, missing out on 6 to 8 months of happiness with Shaunie because he wasn’t happy with himself. On their The Grow Zone podcast, Shaunie shared that she’d never dated a pastor before and was worried Keon might be too boring. But Keon felt Shaunie came into his life at just the right time, understanding that his life wasn’t all about the church. He described their connection as something magical, saying he felt like he knew her from the moment they met. He decided to start dating Shaunie before his divorce was finalized because he didn’t want anyone else dictating his life. He said, “Love is messy; you feel what you feel, but you do what you’re supposed to do. You get your divorce, you show respect to your current wife and children, and then you move on.”
The situation raises some red flags. Shaunie should have noticed how Keon treated his ex-wife and how he jumped into a new relationship before his divorce was settled. If he struggled with self-control and respect before the divorce was final, what makes anyone think he’d suddenly change? It’s important to pay attention to these patterns.
Nearly three years after filing for divorce, his divorce was finalized in 2021. According to Professor Blackmore’s YouTube channel, the divorce decree showed he had no real assets before or after the marriage. His financial situation was so bad that if you stole from him, you’d end up in debt. Shaunie, on the other hand, received $5,000 per month in spousal support until March 2023, plus child support until their daughter turns 18. She also got a house, funds from two bank accounts totaling $53,000, profit from a house they sold, a 2016 Land Rover, and ownership of seven business entities.
Shaunie and Keon went public with their relationship around July 2021, and he proposed in November of the same year. She told People magazine that her children loved him and he had become an important part of their lives. Looking ahead, she was excited to build a future with him. During an April 2022 visit to Bishop TD Jakes’ Potter’s House Church, Keon, who had two previous marriages, referred to Bishop Jakes as his “prayer warrior” for 40 years, which made some wonder if he was a bit of a mama’s boy.
In May 2022, Shaunie, 47, and Keon, 41, got married in Anguilla, with Bishop Jakes officiating. VH1 filmed the event for a reality show about their wedding. It’s not clear if they signed a prenup. Shaunie, if you didn’t get a prenup, we seriously need to talk. Just kidding—but seriously, I hope you covered that base. Although Keon was initially hesitant about having the wedding on TV, he later told BET that it was important to include his 15,000 church members who couldn’t be there in person. They loved their time in Anguilla so much that they even donated a park to the island and plan to retire there one day.
After their wedding, Shaunie surprised her new husband with a monthlong honeymoon. She told People magazine that they rented a yacht in Monaco, cruised along the French Riviera, and wrapped up their trip in Italy. When they got back to the States, they moved into a $3 million home in Houston. But according to Professor Blackmore’s YouTube channel, the property records show that the house is actually owned by someone else and Shaunie and Keon are renting it. Even so, Shaunie has taken on the role of his first lady, and Keon has called her his “forever wife” on the church’s website. He told People magazine that they’re committed to keeping the excitement in their relationship alive, saying, “Every day we wake up, we try to figure out how to make sure it feels as good as it was in the beginning.”
In a 2022 interview with Mind-Blowing Magazine, Shaunie gushed about finally finding the man of her dreams. She said, “You want your hero, your knight in shining armor, to come along and sweep you off your feet. It took a while to get there. This is a new beginning for me.”
But then, in January 2024, rapper Loose Cannon stirred things up on the No Jumper podcast. He claimed that while Shaunie was with Keon, they had a fling. Loose Cannon said that Shaunie was essentially his sugar mama, buying him expensive watches, and that she reached out to him just before her wedding. He described a conversation where Shaunie allegedly offered him $110,000 for a final rendezvous before tying the knot. Although he turned down the offer, Loose Cannon said that Shaunie eventually gave him $50,000 for their encounter.
Hold on a second—what’s going on here? The situation sounds pretty rough, and now they’re asking for donations? Shaunie, what’s the real story? Are we being set up?
So here’s the deal: Lighthouse Church has four locations in Houston and even offers virtual services. But in July 2024, the main campus got hit hard by Hurricane Barrel. The church spokesperson says they’re still figuring out the full damage, but it’s clear the building won’t be usable for a while. There’s a lot of water damage and the electrical system is a mess. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
A month later, Keon shared his plan to not just rebuild but to make the new main campus even bigger. He wants to double the size of the sanctuary so nobody will be turned away. Instead of waiting for insurance money, he claims God gave him a vision to get it done in 21 days. He’s asking 2,100 people to donate $2,100 each in the next 21 days. Someone in the comments reacted, ‘Call Shaq broke ninja. Check that.’ It seems like there’s some serious skepticism about why they’re pushing for donations before the insurance kicks in.”
As of now, it’s still unclear if he’s gotten the full amount he asked for, but he’s got a couple of weeks left before his deadline. Meanwhile, Keon and Shaunie are busy with their work at other campuses and have been attending a few marriage conferences. Some folks think that with their combined history of three marriages each, they have a lot of experience to offer other couples. On the other hand, there are people who feel that since they’re still relatively new in their current marriage, they might not be the best people to give relationship advice. Instead of advising others, maybe they should focus on their own relationship and figure out how to make it work this time. It might be better if they took a backseat and watched from the sidelines for now.
Shaunie and Keon recently celebrated their second wedding anniversary in 2024. Even though their story has had its share of drama, we genuinely wish them all the best. Bestie, your messiness is what makes you so entertaining!