Charles Barkley stunned his ‘Inside the NBA’ co-hosts when he deviated away from basketball to talk about rapper Ice Spice’s chaotic brawl in a McDonald’s restaurant.
Last week, Ice Spice was sitting in a booth at McDonald’s Hollywood location with a female friend when the pair were approached by a fan called Vayah.
She ran excitedly over to their table and made a movement that appeared as though she were asking Ice Spice’s pal to make room for her to sit.
There followed what looked like an increasingly hostile conversation between Vayah and Ice Spice, who gestured in the direction of the door.
The tension boiled over when Vayah struck Ice Spice in the face and then repeatedly swung at her, kicking off an explosive brawl that eventually spilled outside the McDonald’s and saw the rapper get knocked to the ground.
With ‘Inside the NBA’ now sponsored by McDonald’s, Barkley thought the show was the perfect place to discuss the viral incident.
Charles Barkley stunned his co-hosts by ranting about Ice Spice’s recent brawl in McDonald’s
The rapper got into a fight at a McDonald’s in Hollywood last week, with the melee eventually spilling outside the restaurant (pictured)
In video obtained by the Daily Mail, the fight could be seen to continue outdoors, where Ice Spice was flung to the ground during a scrap in the middle of the street
The NBA great said: ‘I hear they’ve got some slappy Happy Meals over there.’
An unimpressed Shaquille O’Neal responded: ‘What does that mean?’
Barkley then continued: ‘You see Ice Spice got slapped at McDonald’s? What are you doing at McDonald’s in the middle of the night, Ice Spice? Come on. Stop that. Get it to go.’
Host Ernie Johnson quickly tried to get the show back on track by thanking McDonald’s for supporting their show.
But Barkley interrupted by saying: ‘I love McDonald’s. Fish Filet (Filet-O-Fish) is the greatest sandwich ever. I love me some nuggets. Just dip in that little barbecue sauce, eat half, then double-dip.’
Johnson then pointed out that Fish Filet used to be Barkley’s pre-game meal, to which he responded: ‘Two Fish Filets and large fries but I washed it down with a Diet Coke because I was watching my calories.’
He then continued: ‘Let Ice Spice eat in peace! Can you believe that, Shaq? She should have slapped her in the face with a Big Mac. You walk up on me, everything’s on the table.’
They then played the footage of the incident and Barkley shouted over it ‘come on Spice, come on Spice. Leave that woman alone.’
‘I can almost guarantee you that this was not what McDonald’s had in mind when they sponsored,’ Johnson said to end the hilarious segment.
Shaquille O’Neal burst out laughing after Barkley coined the phrase ‘Slappy Happy Meals’
Ice Spice was slapped by a fan called Vayah before the altercation exploded in the restaurant
Ice Spice, who opened for Taylor Swift on the Eras Tour, later posted a clip of the fight to social media and quipped: ‘this wouldn’t happen at Wendy’s.’
The 26-year-old worked as a Wendy’s cashier before her music career took off and recently announced a paid partnership with the fast food chain.
Her lawyer, Bradford Cohen, issued a statement declaring that the ‘unprovoked attack on my client has been reported to the LAPD and we will be pursuing any and all avenues to hold the perpetrators responsible for their actions, including criminally and civilly.’
Turning his attention to the McDonald’s, Cohen added: ‘We are also exploring holding the location responsible for their lack of appropriate security.’
