Khloé Kardashian Recalls 'Pivotal Moment' She Realized She Couldn't Change Ex Lamar Odom amid His Drug Addiction

Mar. 15, 2025

Khloe Kardashian attends The 2022 Met Gala (left); Lamar Odom attends OVO takeover at Vision Lounge on November 19, 2021 (right).Photo:Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Prince Williams/Wireimage

Khloe Kardashian attends The 2022 Met Gala Celebrating “In America: An Anthology of Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 02, 2022 in New York City; Lamar Odom attends OVO takeover at Vision Lounge on November 19, 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Prince Williams/Wireimage

Khloé Kardashianis shedding new light on a major realization she came to during her marriage toLamar Odom.

On the third episode of her podcast,Khloé in Wonderland, released on Wednesday, Jan. 29, Kardashian, 40, sat down for a conversation withMel Robbins. And when the author asked if she’d ever been in a position where she knew what she had to do but couldn’t make herself do it, the Good American Founder shared a story from her relationship with Odom, 45.

“I remember, I was married andmy ex-husband had a drug addiction. And I knew that his addiction always heightened — he was in the NBA — and his addiction always heightened when he was in the off-season, cause idle time is the devil’s playground,” Kardashian began.

Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian at Perfumania on June 7, 2012.Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian make a personal appearance for “Unbreakable Bond” at Perfumania on June 7, 2012 in Orange, California.

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

“And so I remember he was asked to go to Team USA, if I remember correctly, and I was begging, ‘Please, please go to Team USA,’ and I was pushing, and I remember he just looked at me and said, ‘You can’t want it more than I do,’ " she continued.

It was a simple point to make, but for Kardashian, “it was so profound.” She explained, “It’s so silly, ‘cause I know that. But I wanted it so badly, because I wanted to help him and to get him to feel the motivation and feel good, but he just wasn’t in that place.”

“It took me a long time to get to, then I had to file for divorce,” she shared. “That was a very pivotal moment in my life because I remember that statement being like…‘Yeah, you’re right. I can’t want your life more than you.’ "

Later in the episode, themom of tworecalled being “so young” during her relationship with the NBA player, whoshe wed in 2009, separated from in 2013 and divorced in 2016. She said she’s “so much better at” realizing she can’t change people now, explaining, “I think maybe because I went through that experience [with Odom] — that I, for me, I’m so good at it.”

She also spoke about other experiences she had a result of Odom’s drug addiction — and how, looking back, she sees things differently. “In hindsight, I was like, I don’t wanna be with someone that does [hard drugs], even just a little. Because it could easily be a slippery slope. But you are in love and you’re like, ‘It’s fine,’ " she said, recalling trips to Las Vegas where her husband was using.

“But I didn’t find out for about a year-and-a-half, the extent of what was going on,” Kardashian added of Odom’s addiction. “He was really good at concealing it.”

In 2015, Odom had a near-fatal overdose and was found unconscious in a brothel in Nevada, and because his divorce from Kardashian was not yet finalized at the time,she opted to call off the proceedingsas he continued recovering. In 2016,she filed for divorce for a second time.

Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom attend Kanye West Yeezy Season 3 on February 11, 2016.Jamie McCarthy/Getty

Khloe Kardashian and Lamar Odom attend Kanye West Yeezy Season 3 on February 11, 2016 in New York City.

Jamie McCarthy/Getty

The reunion madeKris Jennervisibly upset, as she said of Odom in a confessional, “That was the love of her life.”

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Season 6 ofThe Kardashianspremieres Thursday, Feb. 6 on Hulu.

source: people.com