Iman Shumpert is now backpedaling when it comes to recent comments he made about Empire using not only his likeness but also his girlfriend Teyana Taylor’s likeness.
“They’re using my girl’s character, her style, her look, and she’s not getting anything for it,” Shumpert stated in an interview with sports reporter Chris Hayes. “They didn’t even change her name. They could have at least let my girl audition for the part instead of stealing her character completely.”
But Shumpert is now saying he was misquoted.
“Fans of the show and friends have told us on many occasions that couple favors us, but we do not all feel that our lives are being copied/stolen,” he told TMZ Sports.
The Cavaliers guard even offered an apology to the Empire stars he now says he didn’t compare himself to. “I apologize to the actors on the show because they’re just being professionals and don’t deserve slander. That’s not what I was trying to portray, and I have to be more careful with my choice of words.”
Then the finger-pointing began. Shumpert said that Hayes is the one at fault because he took a few quotes and twisted them.
“I do not appreciate the writer using his questions with my answers to draw quotes like I was making these elaborate answers, but that’s the media. The writer took a two- to three-[minute] convo of locker-room talk after a great team win and made it look like a sit-down interview, and it wasn’t,” said Shumpert.
“He twisted words to get the point that he wanted to get across. This is not that serious, and though we don’t watch the show, we are not against it,” he continued.
While Shumpert and Taylor are not watching the show, millions of other people are. He doesn’t know what he’s missing.