Khloé Kardashian and Tristan Thompson discussing his messy personal life on The Kardashians is nothing new — but the mention of his son with Maralee Nichols was unexpected.
During a new episode of The Kardashians, which started streaming on Thursday, November 16, Khloé, 39, and Tristan, 32, recalled the paternity scandal that led to the athlete’s onscreen apology tour. Before Tristan addressed his infidelity in separate conversations with Kylie Jenner and Kourtney Kardashian, he talked it over again with Khloé.
“It’s all about growing. Everyone has their time for growing up. That’s what therapy helped me realize is you can’t live life with regrets,” he told his ex, with whom he shares daughter True, 5, and son Tatum, 17 months. “I am at a place where I can really see and own [up] to the mistakes I made. I don’t think years ago I knew the damage that I probably caused.” 
In a confessional, Khloé praised Tristan for taking the steps to deal with his personal issues.
“Tristan has been doing a lot of therapy work and he has been working on himself a lot. He wants to prove that he is a different person and I am really not involved in these things,” she explained to the cameras. “This is between him and each individual family member.”
The Good American cofounder reminded Tristan that not everyone had gotten over his numerous cheating scandals, adding, “In this family if you do something to one of us, it affects everyone. And they are enтιтled to their feelings. It’s not some small thing that happened. But time has gone by and it’s done. My son is here and your other son is here.” 
“I take full responsibility for my actions,” he wrote via his Instagram Story at the time. “Now that paternity has been established I look forward to amicably raising our son. I sincerely apologize to everyone I’ve hurt or disappointed throughout this ordeal both publicly and privately.”
Tristan and Khloé expanded their family for a second time with their baby boy in July 2022 via surrogate. (The duo found out about their second pregnancy before news broke about Maralee’s lawsuit.)
During his candid conversation with Khloé, Tristan said he wanted to seek forgiveness from her family. “As a man, you got to own your s—t,” he noted about his decision to go on an apology tour after privately speaking with Kris Jenner, Rob Kardashian and Kim Kardashian.
Tristan’s attempt to make things right has been the main theme of season 4, which hasn’t left everyone thrilled with him. Jordan’s sister Kai Craig recently accused Tristan of not being a present parent to Prince as footage of him with his kids with Khloé aired on Hulu.
Tristan Thompson. George Pimentel/Getty Images
Tristan became a father when his ex-girlfriend Jordan Craig welcomed their son, Prince, in 2016. Following their split, Tristan moved on with Khloé and they announced that they were expecting a child one year later. Their daughter, True, was born in 2018.
After dating on and off amid multiple cheating scandals, Tristan and Khloé briefly rekindled their romance in 2021. Later that year, news broke that Maralee, 33, was suing the NBA player for child support. Tristan, acknowledged in January 2022 that he is the father to Maralee’s now-23-month-old son, Theo, after requesting genetic testing.
“It has been so hard to refrain from speaking up, and out of respect for my sister’s privacy, I haven’t for over 7 years, but this is just too much,” Kai wrote via her Instagram in October. “It’s so painful to see how Tristan can find the time to do these nice things for others but can’t seem to show up and be a real parent for my nephew Prince.”
Kai questioned why Tristan didn’t put in the effort for his eldest child. “The fact that he can take other children to school and activities in the same city, yet never sees or speaks to his own son, unless it’s for a party or planned pH๏τo opportunity, it is appealing and inexcusable,” she continued. “Stepping up for your son is not all about money, it’s about time spent. [Tristan,] you are NOT a good father if you can’t be a good father to ALL of your kids.”
