Sometimes, Khloe Kardashian‘s family members kept up too closely.
As the 40-year-old recently revealed, living such a public life means her family members have known details about her personal life before she did—specifically, both sister Kim Kardashian and mom Kris Jenner knew of instances in which her exes Lamar Odom and Tristan Thompson cheated on her.
“Kim has known about the cheating—I think both of the cheating stuff—I think Kim found out first,” Khloe said during the April 16 episode of Call Her Daddy. “Which is crazy. And then my mom with my ex-husband, she knew things before I did and had to tell me.”
And indeed, Kim famously was on camera when she learned about Tristan cheating on Khloe while she was pregnant with their first child, True Thompson.
“When Kim found out that Tristan was cheating on me, she was about to sit down for Keeping Up interviews and it happened while she was in the interview chair,” Khloe recalled. “I don’t know if as much would have been shown if that’s not how it was unfolding in real time. We just happened to be filming all the f–king time.”
But despite the difficulties in hearing the painful truths, Khloe wouldn’t have had it a different way.
“I would rather a family member than a stranger,” the Good American co-founder added. “I don’t like that any of this stuff happened, but I don’t—I would rather it them. I’m not someone that gets mad at the messenger.”
Khloe also reflected more on her time with Tristan, a relationship that was marred by not just the first, but also two more cheating scandals: a second that involved sister Kylie Jenner’s then-best friend Jordyn Woods, and a third that resulted in Tristan having a baby with fitness trainer Maralee Nichols.
In fact, she said she initially hid her pregnancy with the former couple’s second baby, Tatum Thompson, because she was “so ashamed.”
“Because I already knew what they were going to say, and I already knew what everyone was going to say about me,” she explained, adding, “And I already knew in my gut that that was probably going to happen again.”
She continued, conceding, “And that sounds idiotic, why would you be with someone, but there was just this—now I know in hindsight, ‘Oh, that’s what that feeling was.’ Of never feeling safe with him again. That I just my body sort of knew, a woman’s intuition, this isn’t the right fit for you. But at the time I couldn’t identify what that is.”
Khloe also, now years removed from her 2021 breakup with Tristan and her 2016 divorce with Lamar, reflected on any advice she’d have for someone contemplating whether to stay in a relationship that has had infidelity.
“For my experience, I don’t think people really can change in that regard,” she said. “Once people show you who they are believe them. And that’s something I had to learn the hard way.”
Read on to see more bombshells from Khloe’s Call Her Daddy podcast episode…
Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner Told Khloe Kardashian About Both Exes Cheating
The Good American founder shared that it was her sister Kim Kardashian and mom Kris Jenner who told her that her exes Lamar Odom and Tristan Thompson had cheated on her.
“Kim has known about the cheating—I think both of the cheating stuff—I think Kim found out first,” Khloe explained. “Which is crazy. And then my mom, with my ex-husband, she knew things before I did and had to tell me.”
“When Kim found out that Tristan was cheating on me, she was about to sit down for Keeping Up interviews and it happened while she was in the interview chair,” she continued. “I don’t know if as much would have been shown if that’s not how it was unfolding in real time. We just happened to be filming all the f–king time.”
Khloe Kardashian Recalls “Going Ballistic” After Finding Out Ex Lamar Odom Cheated
Khloe revealed that she found her then-husband, whom she was married to from 2009 to 2016, cheating on her in a motel in downtown Los Angeles.
“I was young, like maybe 26,” she recalled. “I saw in the window that him and this girl were either naked or she was in lingerie, something like that, but I knocked on the door, they answered it for some reason, and I just started going ballistic.”
“He could not understand how I knew where he was,” she continued. “I was like, ‘I don’t give a s–t, I’m not telling anybody anything and why are you in a motel in downtown LA at 3:00 in the morning?’”
The reality star added that the next day, she attended her niece Penelope Disick’s birthday party and hid her injuries from their altercation.
“It was a cowboy party,” Khloe remembered. “And my knuckles were all bloody and gross and I just had bandanas wrapped around—I was on theme—and I acted like nothing ever happened and I never said a thing.”
Khloe Kardashian Called Her Marriage to Lamar Odom “One of the Best Chapters” in Her Life
While Khloe’s marriage to Lamar—which despite separating in 2013 legally ended in 2016 due to the former NBA player’s near-fatal 2015 overdose—included incredibly dark times in her life, she also looks back at some moments fondly.
“That was one of the best chapters in my life,” she said, but also added, “It took away so much of my innocence. There were things that I was exposed to that I never in a million years thought I would be exposed to.”
“I think in your 20s, you really believe that love is all you need,” she reflected. “I really do think it was the right person, wrong time. I have so much love for Lamar and every relationship I have, I’m so grateful for them, even the worst of them. They mold me and they make me more empathetic and compassionate. They built me in a different way.”
Why Khloe Kardashian Believes Tristan Thompson Romance Disappointed Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner
For older sister Khloe, she shared her regrets about her relationship with Tristan amid his 2018 cheating scandal, which she learned about two days after she gave birth to their daughter True.
“I think the worst part of that experience was how much I let my younger sisters down because I remember they were like, ‘He’s going to do this again. Don’t stay with him,’” she said of Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner. “I remember the disappointment in them. They would never say that to me and they’ve never said that to me, but I’ve always felt how much I’ve disappointed them by staying and doing that again.”
“I still feel really horrible about that because I’ve always been this big sister to them,” she added. “Maybe the second one hurt more because I lived with it for so much longer and maybe I’ve had more shame with the second scandal because I sort of knew it was gonna happen again.”
Looking back at her decision, the 40-year-old, who welcomed son Tatum with Tristan in 2022, admitted that she “buried my head in the sand” with the first scandal.
“I just wanted to have this bliss that I always dream of and have a brand new baby and have the daddy here,” she explained. “When you’ve never been in that position, it’s really easy to judge and to say things. “
In December 2021, as Khloe and Tristan began their surrogacy journey to welcome Tatum, the NBA player fathered son Theo, 3, with Maralee Nichols. He and Khloe ultimately split for good in 2022.
How the Kardashian-Jenner Family Divides Their Earnings
Khloe confirmed that their sprawling family—which includes Kris, Kim, Kendall, Kylie and Kourtney Kardashian—are paid equally on their reality show The Kardashians.
How Much Say Khloe Kardashian and Her Family Have Over What Airs on Their Show
Khloe shared that she and her family, who are executive producers on The Kardashians, can cut any footage they don’t like. However, she emphasized that it’s “more vanity things that we would cut.”
Although Kris occasionally requests cuts, Khloe prefers to keep most of her storyline intact, despite having moments she would’ve loved to cut out of the episode.
“I mean, trust me,” she said with a laugh. “I would’ve cut way other s–t. I’ve never cut anything crazy.”
As for who asks the most? Eldest sister Kourtney Kardashian, according to Khloe.
“It’s more because she’ll say, ‘I say ‘like’ too many times, so remove this word,'” she explained. “It’s more that regard. It’s not really because of story—not storylines, because they’re following us—but it’s not about a story concept. It’s more verbiage.”
