Stop Pointing Fingers at Khloe Kardashian for Lamar Odom's Problems

Unfortunately, it's easy to lump Lamar Odom with the Kardashian family. He's his own person, he has his own identity outside of his marriage to Khloe, and we should recognize that. Admittedly, I was one of many who made his hospitalization a Kardashian story, without even realizing it. However, it's one thing to unintentionally consider Lamar part of the family, but it's another to blame them and their life in front of the cameras for his downfall.

It's been less than 24 hours since news of Lamar's tragic incident, and apparent drug overdose, broke. Already, I've seen headlines about him going on a "binge" at the Nevada brothel because he was upset about his portrayal on Keeping Up With the Kardashians. Whether or not this is true, the "SMH" tweets pointing fingers at Khloe and her family have ensued.

In a chilling KUWTK clip, Khloe expresses fear of Lamar spiraling out of control. We know that Lamar has been devastated over his 2013 split from Khloe, continuing to refer to her as his "soulmate" and "wife." Earlier this year, Khloe admitted she “never, ever not love Lamar." My point is, their love for each other obviously runs deep, which is why you may be asking yourself why Khloe didn't do more to help him.

First of all, we don't know what goes on behind closed doors. We get fragments of the story from what we see on their reality show. We don't know the exact extent of what Khloe did or didn't do to help Lamar. Secondly, we need to remember my earlier point that Lamar's life was his own. He had his personal problems before he even met Khloe. This brings me to my next point.

Lamar's life prior to meeting Khloe had its darkness. We saw how difficult it was for Lamar to mend his relationship with his estranged father Joe, a former drug addict. From the show tidbits alone, we could see Lamar relive the pain of his upbringing and troubled father. And did you know his six-and-a-half-month-old son Jayden died from SIDS while sleeping in his crib in 2006? I'm sure there are many more intense details of Lamar's past we don't even know about, but it's clear he was living with his own demons before Khloe even came into his life.

At the end of the day, Lamar fought, yet succumbed to his trouble past. First there was a DUI, then drug allegation after allegation. If they are true, we know addiction is a disease that sometimes can sadly not be suppressed. And if you find yourself shaming Khloe and her family for adding pressures to Lamar's life and "not doing enough" to help him, remember that: 1. You don't know what they have or haven't done, really. 2. You're the ones who watched their shows, followed their stories, and helped drive them to live such incredibly public lives. Maybe a fraction of the blame should be put upon you.