After Years of Begging For Khloé Kardashian Back, Lamar Odom Says He Prefers Taraji P. Henson
In recent years, Lamar Odom has been on a media campaign to try and win Khloé Kardashian back. Their marriage was tabloid heaven until Odom’s drug addiction and reported cheating took over. Odom may have noted dozens of times publicly that he’d like a second chance, but he said otherwise in a recent interview. In fact, he says he prefers another ex, Taraji P. Henson, over Kardashian.
Lamar Odom admitted he married Khloé Kardashian while dating Taraji P. Henson
The former LA Laker spoke about his brief romance with the Empire alum in an episode of TV One’s UNCENSORED in 2019. “She was a little older than me, but I learned a lot from her because that was the most significant relationship as a grown-up that I had with a Black woman. I used to carry a picture of her on the road with me,” he said.
Both of them being the best at their career is what Odom says gave him motivation. “She gave me inspiration,” he added. “A Black woman, working like that, that’s just as good at her craft that I am in my craft.”
But as quickly as they bloomed, Odom says fizzled just as fast due to him catching feelings for Kardashian. “Things ended with Taraji because I was an immature punk,” he admitted. “I didn’t know how to tell her that I was falling in love with another woman.”
He later told Vlad TV that he never actually broke things off with Henson. “I met a young woman named Khloé [Kardashian] around that time,” Odom said. “I wish I was a bigger man and I wasn’t really. How it kind of ended with Taraji, I wish I would have bossed up. I just kind of let it fizzle out.” Odom and Kardashian met and married within 30 days.
The NBA champion recently said he’d prefer Taraji P. Henson over Khloé Kardashian
Odom is currently starring on the BET+ reality series reboot College Hill. The series follows Odom and other celebrities who either attended college and didn’t finish, or didn’t attend at all, on an accelerated program at Texas Southern University. While promoting the new show, Odom was asked about which ex he would rather reconcile with.
“I think the difference between Taraji and Khloé is how they [were] brought up. Their upbringing, which makes people different and [affects] the way they think,” he told Page Six. “I think Taraji is more skillful in what she does as an actress compared to what Khloé does.”
He continued: “I love Taraji. It’s a love thing. It’s about who you love,” Odom explained about his hypothetical decision. “Taraji is a cool girl. Matter fact she’s here [in L.A.]. I got to see her at the BET Awards in June. So maybe I’ll get to shoot my shot at her again.”
He says his and Khloé Kardashian’s divorce was no surprise
Odom and Kardashian were married from 2009 – 2016, with Kardashian first filing divorce documents in 2013. Kardashian supported him through his substance abuse, which became public and difficult for Odom to hide. She even helped to nurse him back to health after he overdosed in a Nevada brothel.
Of her decision to end the marriage, Odom told Vlad TV he was not shocked. “If a woman asks you for a divorce [and] if you know you did everything wrong, you got to do a lot right. At that point, I’m just going to give her what she wants and what she asks for.”
