Bye, bye, bye! Google rewrites 'NSync history, replacing Joey Fatone with Shaquille O'Neal — and the internet is there for the laughs

Suzy Byrne
·Editor, Yahoo Entertainment

Google has all the answers … but they aren’t always right.

A mix-up led Google search results to list Shaquille O’Neal as a member of ‘NSync. Sorry, Joey Fatone! (Photo: Getty Images)
A mix-up led Google search results to list Shaquille O’Neal as a member of ‘NSync. Sorry, Joey Fatone! (Photo: Getty Images)

A glitch in the search engine’s results for the late, great boy band ‘NSync had the names of the five performers as Justin Timberlake, J.C. Chasez, Lance Bass, Chris Kirkpatrick, and … Shaquille O’Neal?! Yes, the hulking, 7-foot-1 former basketball star was given Joey Fatone’s spot — and the internet enjoyed the hard-to-mix-up mix-up.

The error was noticed and shared — as it goes — and Bass seems to be the first to retweet it.

Soon after, a fan sent a screenshot to the still-active ‘NSync Twitter handle. The response there was perfect — with a nod to the group’s recent reunion for its Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony — setting the tone for the silliness that followed.

That led to Fatone taking a break from making his famous hot dogs to weigh in.

Timberlake added a funny image to the conversation, which he didn’t create, but that’s when things really blew up.

Some of the better responses were from people who weren’t famous.

Some people were OK with it.

Others weren’t.

And, yes, there were height jokes.

Shaq didn’t respond on Twitter, but his response was imagined.

Google soon deleted Shaq from the band.

And then the band was restored to its original status, which Fatone celebrated.

If there is a bright spot in the mix-up, besides the silliness, it’s that the world was schooled on Shaq’s history with the band.

Bass later told TMZ, “A lot of people don’t know Shaquille had a big hand in starting our career … We lived in Orlando and our first place that we recorded was his house … so all of our first demos, our first songs were all from Shaq’s house!” (Yes, the house that’s on the market for $28 million.)

So there you go. You have learned something new out of this whole ridiculous saga. Thank you, internet.


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