Khloé Kardashian says Lamar Odom is 'dead to me'

Khloé Kardashian has cut ties with her ex-husband Lamar Odom, at least on screen. On the Thursday, Nov. 12, episode of The Kardashians on Hulu, she said Odom is "dead to me" after watching his Netflix documentary, Untold: The Death & Life of Lamar Odom. USA Today, E! News and Entertainment Weekly all reported her remarks that same day.

Odom is a former NBA player and a two-time NBA champion. He and Kardashian were married from 2009 to 2016, and their marriage became part of the family's reality TV story. Kardashian filed for divorce in 2013 but dropped the case in 2015, after Odom came close to death following an overdose, EW reports. She helped nurse him back to health, a point Scott Disick raised on the show, before the couple split for good in 2016.

The people involved are well known to fans of the show. Kardashian is the founder of True American and the mother of two children, True, 8, and Tatum, 4, with ex Tristan Thompson, E! News reports. Odom is the father of three with ex Liza Morales, E! adds. The Kardashians airs on Thursdays on Hulu, according to USA Today.

The documentary came out on Netflix in March. USA Today describes it as a look at the tragedies and hardships Odom has faced in his 47 years, including his divorce from Kardashian and a near-death experience at a now-demolished brothel in 2015. The new reaction is about what Odom says about the marriage in the film, which is a different question from the overdose itself.

The story has Los Angeles roots too. USA Today reports that Odom spent close to three months at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after he was found unresponsive at the Love Ranch, about 80 miles outside Las Vegas. In the film, a close friend recalls talking with Odom for about two hours on the night of his wedding, and one topic was the Los Angeles Lakers' plan to "try to better his future," EW reports.

Odom's comments in the film sit at the center of the fight. He says he had already become "Lamar Odom" and was watching "how she lives and their lifestyle" when he decided he wanted that life. "I think that was like a power trip for me," he says, "because you took the power that I had and then the Kardashian power." EW quotes both lines from the documentary.

What to know

• Kardashian reacted on air. On the Nov. 12 episode, Scott Disick asked whether she had heard what Odom said about the documentary, according to E! News. Her friend Malika Haqq said she "wanted to get his ass."
• She says she took part as a favor. "I took time out of my life to sit here and do a favor for you. I'm not being paid," Kardashian said, as EW quoted her. She added that she is "trying to be nice" and found "so many things" in the film "really distasteful."
• She rejects the fame claim. "You married me just so you could be more popular in pop culture, all these things, which is so weird," she said, E! News reports. She asked why he would not say it without her on the other side of the interviews.
• Her final word is blunt. "The bridge is burned, and there's no more rope left to throw over, so he is dead to me," EW quotes her as saying.
• Her help after the overdose is part of the dispute. The episode showed a clip of Odom being asked about her role in his recovery. "I don't need you to thank me, just don't talk about me," she said after watching it, EW reports.
• Odom's side is partly on record. E! News reports that Odom has since pointed out that one of his children was the person who alleged he married Kardashian only for fame. In the film, he admits he wanted to marry her after seeing the family's lifestyle.
• What is still unknown: the sources do not say whether Odom has answered Kardashian's latest remarks directly. The Kardashians airs weekly, so more on-air comments are possible.

The documentary's reception is the other half of the story. USA Today describes the film as a look at the hardships Odom has faced at 47. E! News reports that the film makes claims about the marriage that Kardashian found hurtful, and in her own words she took part in it as a favor. The sources do not say whether Netflix or the documentary's makers have responded to her criticism.

That gap matters for readers weighing the two accounts. Kardashian's version comes from her on-air remarks on The Kardashians. Odom's version comes from the film and from his later comments, as E! News describes them. Readers can weigh both for themselves.

The order of events also matters. Kardashian said she agreed to take part in the documentary as a favor, and she said she is not being paid. She then watched the film and spoke about it on her own show, which is why EW and E! News both framed the reaction as a response to what Odom said on camera.

Our take

Reality TV has always blurred the line between a family's show and its real life, and this fight has two cameras running. Kardashian's reaction is a reminder that a documentary is one version of events, and the people it features often get to answer on their own shows. Readers who have followed the family for years will recognize the pattern: a film, a reaction, and a fight fans debate for weeks. For LA readers, the sharpest details are local, from the Cedars-Sinai stay to the Lakers talk recalled in the film, and that history was part of Odom's life long before the documentary. Does a film like this change how you see either of them?

Where this comes from

This comes from USA Today's Nov. 12 report, E! News' Nov. 12 story and Entertainment Weekly's report that evening on Kardashian's remarks on The Kardashians. Background on the 2009 to 2016 marriage, the 2013 divorce filing, the March Netflix release and Odom's Cedars-Sinai stay comes from the same USA Today and EW reports, and the family details come from E! News.

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LA This Weekend Team