The Truth About Khloe Kardashian And Lamar Odom's Marriage

Khloé Kardashian has always been a hopeless romantic, and her whirlwind marriage to former NBA player Lamar Odom was no exception. The baller quickly became a fan and Kardashian-family favorite on the E! reality show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," and they even got their own spinoff "Khloé & Lamar." The couple also teamed up for their unisex fragrance Unbreakable, got tattoos of each other's initials, and always seemed to be in good spirits at in public together. Unfortunately, the couple was living a different reality when the cameras were off. 

Odom struggled with sex and drug addictions, and Kardashian struggled to keep his issues private. In his 2019 memoir "Darkness To Light," Odom wrote that Kardashian turned to spirituality to deal with their failing relationship, and he turned to drugs. She tried to obey her "in sickness and in health" vows in 2015 when Odom had a near-fatal overdose, and while the two rekindled for a moment, they were ultimately better apart. 

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Lamar Odom proposed to Khloé Kardashian in 2009, not even a month after they started dating. If you think that's fast, imagine Kris Jenner's surprise when her daughter said she wanted to have a lavish wedding in nine days. The preparation was all captured in an hour and a half episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians." On the show, Kardashian infamously hides her engagement from her step-dad, Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner) until Odom gives her an engagement ring, but Bruce finds out anyway while watching the news. The drama leading up to the big day continues when Bruce learns that Kardashian asked her brother Rob to walk her down the aisle.

Things settle down once Bruce meets Odom and proposes to Kardashian with a ring at a family dinner. Everyone is happy when once the big day arrives, with Khloé becoming a Mrs. wearing a custom Vera Wang gown. Celebrity guests included Lakers legends Kobe and Vanessa Bryant, Phil Jackson, socialite Kelly Osborn, and Rob's ex-girlfriend Adrienne Bailon.

Rob Kardashian lived with his sister Khloé Kardashian and her husband Lamar Odom for almost the entirety of their marriage. Odom and the youngest Kardashian hit it off immediately, and their sibling-like bond was a consistent storyline on "Khloe & Lamar." The bromance remained strong when Khloé filed for divorce in 2013, but came to an end when rumors of Odom cheating on Khloé became factual. 

"I don't know [why we don't talk]. I guess maybe because I hurt his sister too much. I mean if she was my [sister] I would have a problem with me too," Odom told Wendy Williams (via CinamaBlend). "KUWTK" fans were also quick to notice that Rob's 100-pound weight gain and struggles with depression lined up with the couple's demise. Maybe witnessing the downfall of two people he loved and lived with took a toll on him, too.

Khloé Kardashian was no stranger to camera crews following her every move when she married Lamar Odom, but the reality star said she "never wanted" to film the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" spinoff "Khloé and Lamar." In 2017, Kardashian told The Hollywood Reporter that so much was going on with the couple behind closed doors that she didn't want the cameras to capture the secret chaos. 

However, Lamar had a different idea. "I said, 'You have to go into E! and promise them that you have the time.' He sold it, and I let it happen because I wanted him to be happy, but I was the one who canceled it. It was way too much."

Kardashian stayed in control of the series during its two-season run, and ended it after Odom overdosed on drugs at a Nevada brothel. "It wasn't necessary to go stick a camera in Lamar's face while he's on death's door in the hospital,” Jeff Jenkins, co-president of the show's production studio Bunim/Murray, told Grazia. "It was just too much."

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Lamar Odom was a Los Angeles Laker when he met and married Khloé Kardashian, but the two-time NBA champion had some serious demons off the court. Unknown to Kardashian when they wed, Odom was a proclaimed "sex addict" and revealed in "Darkness to Light" that he has slept with other 2,000 women. He also became addicted to drugs, mainly cocaine, and frequently took ecstasy. "Sex was a trigger for me to do drugs," he told People. "Because you double up on [that] good feeling."

Odom detailed his experiences with the drugs in the memoir, saying the coke would give him an insane sex drive, and he would bring strippers, "always two" of them back to his house after a night out. "I couldn't keep my d–k in my pants or the coke out of my nose," he wrote. He claimed he was faithful to Kardashian at the start of their marriage, but soon "could not handle the potentially lethal cocktail of the spotlight, drug addiction, a diminishing basketball career, and infidelity."

"I had broken my vows with Khloé so many times it's just impossible for me to remember them all," he wrote. He told People that Kardashian learned of the incidents, and that's what led her to file for divorce in 2013.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Lamar Odom's sex and drug addictions nearly killed him in 2015 when he was found unconscious at the Nevada brothel. He told Kevin Hart in 2019 that he had "12 strokes in six heart attacks" while in the hospital in a coma. At the time, Odom and Khloé Kardashian had both already signed divorce papers, but the judge had not signed off on it, so they two were still legally married. This meant Kardashian was in charge of her estranged husband's medical decisions.

Kardashian took this responsibility seriously, and called off their divorce so she could continue to help Odom. "After all the sh** I had done, I was surprised to see her. Honestly, that's when I knew that I was probably in bad shape," Odom told People about being face-to-face with Kardashian once he woke up. "Keeping Up with the Kardashians' ' briefly stopped filming during the medical emergency. However, the show included a conversation between Kourtney Kardashian and Kris Jenner, saying Khloé hadn't left Odom's side and "feels guilty" for needing to leave.

"When I woke up out of the coma, my memory was terrible and I couldn't walk or talk, and just her spirit, always being there, her bringing pictures of my mother, my grandmother, just to help me bring my memory back," Odom later told Buzzfeed News' "Profile."

If you or anyone you know is struggling with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

Lamar Odom has said that if it weren't for his secret drug addiction and unfaithful behavior during his marriage to Khloé Kardashian, the two might still be together. In "Darkness To Light," Odom wrote about the time he threatened to kill his then-wife when she called his friends to come check on him while high on cocaine in his "man-cave." "'You trying to embarrass me in front of my friends?," Odom recalled saying to Kardashian. "I'll f***ing kill you! You don't know what I'm capable of!'"

Odom's infidelity is something he deeply regrets and spoke a lot about during the press tour for his memoir. The former Mavericks player admitted to "The Morning Hustle" that he would like a do-over of 2009 to not cheat on Kardashian. "I would rewind that back and take those things back and never let that happen." He also said on BuzzFeed News' "Profile" that his infidelity "haunts [him] every day," adding, "You marry someone after 30 days, they never leave your heart."

Not everything you see on a reality TV show is, well, real. When Khloé Kardashian joined sister Kim at a fertility doctor appointment in an episode of "Keeping Up With the Kardashians, she shared some shocking information about her own attempts to get pregnant. The divorcee told Kim's doctor that she "fake-tried" to get pregnant during her marriage to Lamar Odom (via People).

"I knew it wasn't the right situation to bring a child into, and I think I've done a lot of covering up for him — even when it made me look like I was the problem," Khloé said in 2017. "When I was doing my fertility treatments, they were more so for Lamar. I had to stop because there was much deeper stuff that was happening in our marriage." 

Odom was already the father of two children, and Khloé went on to have her daughter True with NBA player Tristian Thompson, but Odom still hopes to reconcile with his ex wife in the future. He said on "Celebrity Big Brother" that he was "really looking forward to having children" with Kardashian, per Yahoo! Entertainment.

Even though Lamar Odom seemingly moved on from Khloé Kardashian in 2019 when he got engaged to fitness trainer Sabrina Parr, he must've still had their marriage on his mind. Odom and Parr split during the coronavirus pandemic, and his next focus was starring on "Celebrity Big Brother" in 2022. Odom has brought up Kardashian multiple times on the show, and even told the multi-talented Todrick Hall that he had a dream about his ex wife.

"Who's your ex-wife?" Hall asked. "You don't know?" Odom replied. Hall said he knew about him and Kardashian, and while Odom said the two don't talk anymore, he still misses her "so much."

This isn't the first time Odom has said he's no longer in contact with Kardashian. On SiriusXM's "Radio Andy," he said his "behavior and some bad decisions" are the reason they're not on speaking terms. "We have to live with the decisions that we make and, hopefully, in time people heal and [will] be able to forgive me," Odom said. Kardashian has not publicly talked about Odom in years.