Khloe Kardashian has candidly shared insights into her ex-husband Lamar Odom's "monstrous" drug abuse during their marriage, ahead of the release of the Netflix documentary "Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom" on Tuesday, March 31. The documentary delves into Odom's near-fatal drug overdose and the breakdown of their marriage, featuring Khloe's raw and honest perspective.
The former couple, who first met in 2009, tied the knot just two months after their initial encounter and ultimately announced their separation in 2016. They did not have any children together during their marriage.
In the documentary, Khloe revealed that Odom's substance abuse led to twelve strokes, six heart attacks, and a coma. His condition forced his ex-wife to postpone her court motion for divorce. After Odom recovered from his health crisis, Khloe filed for divorce for the second time.
Recalling their first meeting, Khloe shared that Odom's teammate, Ron Artest, invited her to his Los Angeles party and offered her $5000. She accepted the invitation mainly because of her brother, Rob Kardashian, with whom she ultimately met her ex-husband.
"Prior to this party, I did not know who Lamar was," Khloe recalled. "I remember he had a plastic bag and I was like, 'What's in your bag?' And he's like, 'Candy.' I told him, 'You're such a liar. You probably have condoms in that bag.' I remember he poured it out and it was all candy — and only candy. I felt so stupid."
Discussing Odom's addiction, Khloe said she initially failed to understand its intensity.
"At the beginning, it was a recreational thing," she said. "It seemed responsibly done. It was two years into our marriage when he disappeared. I really thought maybe something happened to him. I remember calling anyone and everyone while trying to find him."
"He did come home, and I don’t want to say he blamed a lot [on this], but his reasoning for why this happened was because of [his infant son] Jayden’s passing," Khloe shared. "That was the first time I was like, 'OK, this is something I’ve never experienced. This is a dark situation and I don’t know what to do.'"
Odom's drug use escalated significantly towards the end of their marriage, and many times he would "go for 12 hours or two days and escape rehab," according to Khloe.
"I was either looking for him in alleys or looking for him in motels," she said. "He would have tinfoil cutouts or spoons and he was freebasing things and leaving things everywhere. I remember needing to go to hotel rooms to clean up after him."
"I was such an enabler without knowing I was an enabler," Khloe continued. "But I just felt such a responsibility to cover this up, hold it together and protect him."
It is worth mentioning that Lamar Odom's six-month-old son, Jayden Odom, died from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) while sleeping in his crib in New York on June 28, 2006. He welcomed his son with his ex-partner Liza Morales.
