Sources close to “Basketball Wives” star Liza Morales say that ex Lamar Odom’s attempts to publicly smear her amid their child support war are “complete bulls–t.”
Morales, who has two children with the Lakers legend, filed a lawsuit against him in May claiming that he completely stopped paying child support in June 2020, and has been violating their 2015 agreement for the last six years.
She says he owes her around $91,000, and that the family faces being evicted from their Manhattan home if he doesn’t cough up some cash soon.
At a hearing on Tuesday, a judge ripped Odom — who appeared in a celebrity boxing match in June — saying that if he’s “is in good enough shape to participate in a boxing match, he’s certainly in good enough shape to abide by his obligations to support his children as set forth in the settlement agreement.”
And after the broadside from the bench, Odom seemed to respond on Instagram, saying, “I was never married to my kids’ mother. I took care of her from the second she became pregnant and even after I was married I still paid her bills. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE for a GROWN ASS WOMAN!! Once my children became adults my duties were done! I told her to GO TO WORK! MOVE into an affordable home, she didn’t listen and that is NOT on ME!”
Their eldest child, Destiny, is 23 and their youngest, Lamar Jr, is 19. But Morales’s camp maintains that their agreement says that — even though Lamar Jr. is over 18 — Odom must continue to pay child support until his son graduates college.
According to the pair’s custody arrangement, Odom is required to pay about $6,000 a month in child support, along with college fees and a premium for a $9 million life insurance plan.
Morales’ lawyer claimed that since June 2020 Odom has only sent “sporadic amounts” directly to Lamar Jr.
Odom added in his post, “To the [people like] Liza who sit on their asses and expect a handout, who lie and manipulate their children, who use their children as pawns, who creates stories and scenarios to attract attention, may you seek healing and counseling for your brokenness — you need it.”
But a source close to Morales says that his slurs are far from the truth.
“This whole narrative that Lamar is trying to use against Liza is complete bulls–t,” said the insider, “At the end of the day Liza has worked in real estate in New York City — one of the toughest in the country as far as the grind of it. Even right now she is working with the Department of Health in New York City. So don’t say she is not working and just sitting on her ass waiting for a check.”
They also said that she had, in fact, been planning on moving out of their $5000-a-month apartment.
“She was actually going to move to L.A. but then COVID hit. That was her plan — to leave the apartment. But she wanted her son to finish high school,” added the source, “She was in L.A. working filming a show [VH1’s ‘Basketball Wives’] for her own opportunities and her own branding opportunities for real estate. So she was in the process of getting her California real estate license.”
The source acknowledged that Morales was a “stay-at-home mom” when their kids were younger, but they added “he’s using that against her [as if] that is still the situation as the kids are older.”
Odom, who was married to Khloe Kardashian, has struggled with serious substance abuse issues, which have been widely covered in the press.
The source said that bringing up their kids was “a hard-ass job especially dealing with an unstable father and addict that is in the public eye. It has been double and triple the stress on her.”
Meanwhile, Morales posted her own message on Instagram saying, “There are so many women who do the right thing. Truly solid, trying to be cordial for the sake of the kids. Putting them first. Then, there are the difficult ones. Don’t you dare put me in that category,” she posted Wednesday.
In his own post, Odom said, “Do I send my kids money monthly? Hell yes! Do I support Liza? No !!! And I shouldn’t be made to either!”