Kourtney Kardashian Barker has finally confronted Tristan Thompson about his serial cheating on Khloé Kardashian.
During Thursday’s episode of The Kardashians, Kourtney, 44, and Tristan, 32, sat down for the first time to address the fallout of his repeated infidelity and disrespect to Khloé, 39.
As Kourtney demanded answers from the NBA player, the conversation also led Tristan to open up about his childhood and why he felt compelled to cheat in the past.
“When we were in Palm Springs for Easter, Tristan kept referencing his life and his future with Khloé, and he texted me the second he left my house, asking to talk and I was trying to eat my Cheetos in peace and didn’t want to go talk to him,” Kourtney explained in a confessional about why she was choosing to meet with him now. “So Tristan and I really have not connected and I just can’t fake it so…”
When Tristan first arrived at Kourtney’s home, the Poosh founder greeted him with a hug before joking, “On a scale of 1 to 10, how scared are you?”
Tristan insisted he wasn’t scared, and the two quickly got to the heart of the matter.
“I’m really not here to judge,” Kourtney said. “I don’t have any anger, it’s just more like I want an understanding of how you could do these things or how it got there. I’m curious if [you are] ever like, ‘I don’t have remorse’ … the next day after you do the deed, do you feel anything?”
He was quick to respond, admitting he feels “disgusted the next day,” which prompted Kourtney to ask, “So why do you do it again?”
“I was cheating just for an action, just cheating for a feeling,” Tristan explained. “It really came down to not really knowing how to love because that’s the way I grew up. With therapy, I realized that my childhood upbringing, what I saw from my dad, how he treated my mom. As a kid, when you see that, the trauma you have is because you can’t protect your mom cause you’re so young, cause your mom says it’s gonna be OK. You basically numb your emotions of being scared or feeling sad. It’s my defense mechanism.”
He continued, “[My mom] did that more for us as kids so we wouldn’t have it bother us, so I never understood how to feel pain or to feel someone’s emotions, because the most important person in my life, even though they’re being treated terribly … was always happy. So I never understood pain or suffering.”
“I’ve never seen a man treat a woman good, I’ve never seen a man not cheat on a woman, I’ve never seen a good husband,” Tristan added. “I made a mistake, multiple times, but did I ever really understand why I was making it?”
Kourtney wasn’t satisfied by this and pressed the issue further. “But what do you think the mistake is?” she asked Tristan, who responded, “Cheating. If I was ahead of it, and maybe told Khloé, we might’ve been able to figure it out together instead of her being blindsided.”
Kourtney then asked about Khloé and how Tristan was comparing her to his mom. “You never had the mom who put herself first, but with Khloé, do you feel like she needs to put herself first and be like, ‘You don’t stand a chance’?” she asked.
When Tristan stumbled over his words, Kourtney spoke up again. “I don’t think you deserve Khloé, or the actions that you’ve done are something she’s deserved.”
With that, a “To Be Continued…” title card closed out the episode.
Tristan’s conversation with Kourtney was one of two major chats he had with one of Khloé’s siblings this week. Earlier in the episode, he sat down with Kylie Jenner to clear the air surrounding his cheating with Kylie’s former best friend Jordyn Woods.
“I think a lot of it was selfish and not understanding the value of good people,” Tristan told Kylie. In a later confessional, he added, “Kylie’s been there for my family through the worst of times and her life got altered because of my actions, so I wanted to be accountable and say my apology to her and Jordyn, so hopefully she’ll relay that message to Jordyn.”
“I want to gain back the respect of my family, so that’s what I’m trying to do, one day at time,” he continued. “I’m not in a position to ask for anything, I think the only thing I can continue to do is prove myself and be who I am and then I think overtime … try to gain everyone’s trust back.”
Khloé and Tristan began dating on and off in 2016. He cheated on her multiple times, including once just days before their daughter True was born and another time with Jordyn in 2019 while he and Khloé were still together.
Years later, they gave their romance another shot, but it was later revealed in December 2021 that Tristan had fathered a child with Maralee Nichols around the same time he and Khloé were secretly expecting their second child via surrogate.
Khloé officially ended their relationship months before the birth of their son Tatum in August 2022 and has since emphasized repeatedly that she has no intention of getting back together.
Prior to this week’s heart to heart with Kourtney, the Poosh founder shared her unfiltered thoughts about Tristan — and why her daughter Penelope Disick isn’t a huge fan of him either.
“I feel like she gets it from me,” Kourtney explained on a previous Kardashians episode after asking her daughter — whom she shares with ex Scott Disick — if it was OK for Tristan to come over with Khloé. “I told her the first day of school, I was so triggered by him … I know why, but I feel like we all brush it off and are fine, and then I was just so triggered and I was like, ‘I just can’t do it anymore.’”
In a confessional, Kourtney elaborated further, “Tristan has made horrible decisions and choices with my sister. There’s times when I’m so triggered by him I can’t be around him and then theres times when I just let it go because we just want harmony and, you know, he’s the father of my niece and nephew.”
Though Khloé has a positive co-parenting relationship with Tristan, she told cameras that she didn’t blame her 11-year-old niece for feeling the way she does.
“Where I am at with Tristan has nothing to do with what I expect my family members to do. If Penelope has feelings about Tristan, rightfully so. And good for you, girl,” she said. “I want Penelope to have these feelings and I don’t wanna talk her out of them because I don’t want this behavior to be something that I’m validating or I’m justifying. I want her to know that how she feeling is the right way to feel. We should not accept someone treating us like this.”
New episodes of The Kardashians drop every Thursday at 12 a.m. ET on Hulu.
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