For 72 days in 2011, Kim Kardashian was married to NBA player Kris Humphries. Their divorce was one of the biggest tabloid stories of the 2010s. Their messy split played out on Keeping Up With The Kardashians, as well. While Kris continued to play in the NBA over the past 8 years, he's kept a pretty low profile since his high profile days as Kim's husband. In an essay announcing his retirement from basketball, Kris got candid about his relationship with Kim, as well as their "brutal" split.
"I should have known what I was getting into. I was definitely naive about how much my life was going to change. But the one thing that really bothers me is whenever people say that my marriage was fake. Thereâs definitely a lot about that world that is not entirely real. But our actual relationship was 100% real," Kris wrote in the essay. "When it was clear that it wasnât working ⌠what can I say? It sucked. Itâs never easy to go through the embarrassment of something like that â with your friends, with your familyâŚ. But when it plays out so publicly, in front of the world, itâs a whole other level. It was brutal."
The intense scrutiny he faced following his split from Kim was really hard for the Minnesota native. "Iâll be honest, I dealt with a lot of anxiety, especially in crowds. There was about a year where I was in a dark place. I didnât want to leave my home. You feel like ⌠I donât know ⌠the whole world hates you, but they donât even know why. They donât even know you at all. They just recognize your face, and theyâre on you," he explained.
"I didnât want to be Kris Humphries. Itâs the craziest feeling in the world, not wanting to be yourself. And I didnât even want to say anything to defend myself, because it felt like I couldnât win," Kris continued. "You canât go up against the tabloids. You canât go up against that machine. Thereâs no point. And even if I played that game, I felt like it would be disrespecting the game of basketball."
Ultimately, though, Kris revealed he was able to make peace with that time in his life and move on. Now that he's retired from his career as a professional athlete, he's getting into the restaurant business. He's opened 10 Five Guys burger joints in the midwest already and is about to open 7 Crisp & Green establishments in the same region.
Photo: Getty