Kim Kardashian and Tristan Thompson Friends After Khloe Cheating

Kim Kardashian and Tristan Thompson have spent quite a bit of time together socially after his split from Khloé Kardashian, and she’s finally revealed why they’ve remained close. During the Wednesday, October 4 episode of The Kardashians, Kim, 42, said he’s a “good person” and has “stepped up” for her when issues arise with her ex-husband, Kanye West.

“Oh, I know guys are gonna hate me for this and you’re gonna hate us and you’re gonna think Khloé is whatever … It’s so crazy because he’s such a good friend and he’s such a good dad … but he just couldn’t get it together in that area, of like being a faithful boyfriend,” Kim explained in a confessional as a video was shown of Tristan, 32, holding and twirling daughter True, 5, and Rob Kardashian‘s daughter Dream, 6.

“So, it’s like you wanna obviously like hate him for that. Yeah, of course, his actions and who he was, like so f–ked up, like I can’t deny that,” the Skims founder continued, adding, “We’ve had our talks about it, and we’ve had our fights about it, and we’ve had our arguments about it.

“But he’s also shown so many decent things and just has been a really good person and friend,” Kim shared.

“When he saw me struggling with my kids, he stepped up. He started showing up at their (sports) games,” Kim revealed about how he’s helped her as a single parent to the four children she shares with Kanye: North, 10,  Saint, 7, Chicago, 5, and Psalm, 4. “He picked Saint up, takes them to dinner, and will always come to my defense, especially if it’s stuff with like me and my ex,” she added.

“And I just like never forgot that, so it’s like, I’ll never really throw someone away and act like I don’t feel like they can’t grow and evolve,” Kim concluded in her confessional.

The entrepreneur has been one of the most open supporters of Tristan in the Kardashian-Jenner family. Kim took son Saint to sit court side and watch the athlete play for the Los Angeles Lakers in April. Saint wore Tristan’s jersey number and the aspiring lawyer held up a hand-made sign in purple and gold lettering with the Canada native’s name written on it.

Tristan accompanied Kim and Saint to Miami in July to watch Lionel Messi‘s debut with the Inter Miami football club, and the duo were photographed smiling and laughing while leaving dinner at Gekko restaurant and heading to LIV nightclub.

The following month, Kim and Tristan attended Drake‘s August 13 show at the Kia Forum alongside sister Kendall Jenner and her boyfriend, Bad Bunny. The foursome then hit up the singer’s after party at West Hollywood’s Bird Streets Club.

Kim wasn’t exaggerating when she said Tristan was incapable of being a faithful boyfriend to Khloé. He was involved in an alleged cheating scandal in New York with a strip club worker days before she gave birth to their daughter in April 2018. After she forgave him and they repaired their relationship, Tristan was caught making out with Kylie Jenner‘s best friend, Jordyn Woods, at a Los Angeles house party in 2019.

That appeared to be the final straw for Khloé, but the two bonded in 2020 during COVID-19 home quarantine and decided to have another child. Despite another split, they eventually turned to a surrogate to give True a sibling.

The month after their embryo resulted in a pregnancy, it was revealed that Tristan had fathered a child with trailer Maralee Nichols in March 2021 while he was still together with the Hulu star. She gave birth to their son, Theo, on December 1, 2021, and Tristan admitted his paternity the following month while publicly apologizing to Khloé for causing her so much pain. The former couple later welcomed the arrival of son Tatum Thompson in July 2022.