Lamar Odom and Khloé Kardashian rushed into marriage just three weeks after they started dating, but what many didn’t know was that Lamar was secretly involved with actress Taraji P. Henson. Taraji was suddenly cast aside, but chose to keep quiet, having dealt with worse situations in her past. Ten years later, after his divorce from Khloé, Lamar admitted he regretted his choice, saying, “I just wish I would have done things differently.”
But there’s more to the story. Taraji has finally spoken out about the betrayal and the abuse she suffered. She revealed, “It started with bruises and grabbing, and then it escalated to fists. I’m still missing a piece of my lip to this day.” In her memoir, she describes a harrowing scene: “I fell onto the bed, crying, holding my mouth, with blood seeping from my lips and across my teeth.”
The abuser was her high school boyfriend, Mark. Taraji explains, “At the time, I had my son, and I didn’t want him to be around that. That’s when I knew I had to leave. No one wakes up wanting to be a punching bag. Sometimes, what we think is love is really just a distorted version of what we’ve been taught.”
Taraji P. Henson opens up about her difficult upbringing and how it shaped her life. Her father struggled with PTSD and alcoholism, and her mother endured a lot of abuse but kept it hidden from Taraji for years. Taraji was unaware of the extent of her mother’s suffering until her father revealed it to her. When she confronted her mother, she learned that her mom had kept quiet to avoid destroying her sense of security and her relationship with her father. This protective approach, though well-intentioned, ended up influencing Taraji’s own choices in relationships, leading her to sometimes pick partners similar to her father.
As an adult, Taraji faced her own challenges. After leaving an abusive relationship with her ex-boyfriend Mark, she moved to LA with her son to chase her acting dreams. Things were starting to look up for her career-wise, but she was hit with a shocking and painful turn of events: Mark was brutally murdered. Taraji couldn’t bring herself to tell her son the truth about how his father died, so she told him it was an accident instead. She felt a lot of guilt about this decision but was motivated by a desire to protect her son’s happiness.
Despite all this, Taraji channeled her pain into her career, leading to significant success, including an Oscar nomination for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” Around this time, she also met someone special who made a big impact on her life. Taraji’s story highlights the complex ways our past can influence our decisions and relationships, and the lengths we go to protect those we love.
Taraji was caught off guard by Lamar; she thought she had found “the one,” but reality turned out to be different. “You two were together for a while, and you said it was one of the happiest times of your life, right?” “Yeah, she was incredibly beautiful.” “So what went wrong?” “I think I met someone named Khloe.”
Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian were about to get married on national television. They met, got engaged, and were married within a month—something that felt like a nightmare for many. “I’m always the one taking care of others, and when no one’s there for me, that’s when the anger flares up. It’s like, ‘How could you?'”
Did Taraji ever discuss Lamar in interviews? No, she didn’t, partly because of her son. “I have a son, and I don’t want him hearing about every guy I dated and what happened. If someone isn’t serious, they shouldn’t even mention it. You don’t get to say, ‘I dated Taraji P. Henson.'”
Taraji kept her pain hidden until she couldn’t anymore. “I struggled with depression and anxiety, feeling like I couldn’t face the world. Some days, my mind would race with worst-case scenarios, and I even had thoughts of ending it all.”
The weight of her past trauma finally caught up with her. “Being a victim of domestic violence takes a huge toll on your mental health, and my relationships started to look the same—two broken people trying to fix each other.” For the first time, Taraji chose to focus on herself. She went to therapy to work through her past. “We often try to be strong and put on a brave face, pretending everything is fine. No one is perfect, and striving for perfection is a lie. When my therapist told me that, it felt like a weight was lifted. You can find yourself in any tough situation, but ultimately, it’s up to you to change it. You have the power.”
At the same time, Lamar and Khloe were starting to hit some rough patches. Lamar was having affairs and struggling with drugs and alcohol. Things got so bad that he was found unconscious in a brothel from a drug overdose. After his marriage ended, Lamar had a moment of clarity and admitted, “Things ended with Taraji because I was an immature punk. I just wish I’d done things differently.”
Unfortunately, by then it was too late for him to make amends with Taraji, who had moved on. Taraji has since embraced her journey and uses her experiences to inspire others. She says, “So many people are ashamed of their flaws. I’m not, or my past, because all of that made me who I am today.” She’s realized that being single is much better than being in a bad relationship. Now in her 50s, she’s living her best life with her son and loving every moment of it.
