C.J.: Latest Kardashian crisis links Odom, Humphries

Lucky Kris Humphries merited a mention in New York Post reporter Maureen Callahan's excellent takedown of the Kardashians' proclivity for always making the story about them, even Lamar Odom's sad one.

The love story lines of the two NBA players overlapped in the Kardashians' reality TV drama, as Callahan recapped here: "In 2011, E! gave the couple a spinoff called 'Khloé & Lamar.' He was alternately depicted as a gentle soul who'd found peace with his new family and as a probable drug addict who went missing for days at a time. That same year, Odom's fellow NBA star Kris Humphries was sucked into the Kardashian vortex, marrying Kim after a 90-day engagement. … Their ceremony aired as a two-part special on Oct. 9 and 10. On Oct. 31, Kim filed for divorce. Kris learned about it on the news. 'After careful consideration,' Kim's statement read, 'I have decided to end my marriage … sometimes things don't work out as planned.' A friend told Radar Online that one month later, Humphries watched 'in utter horror' as he was depicted on the show as a bully who'd used Kim for her fame. 'It's just not a true depiction.' Kim villainized Humphries off-air as well, leaking to TMZ that he was a 'cancer' and a 'manipulative, vindictive, petty, fame-hungry jerk.' Humphries was vindicated during their divorce proceedings, when show producer Russell Jay testified that much of it was fake."

Asked Monday if any of Callahan's references to Jay sounded familiar, Humphries' Minneapolis attorney Lee Hutton III brightened and said, "Yeah! I was there. Everybody is talking about this great deposition that opened eyes to reality TV. I was the one who took that deposition."

Callahan wrote, "Jay said that during Humphries' season, at least two scenes were staged: the wedding proposal … and a scene in which Kim confessed doubts about her marriage to her mother — which was shot after Kim filed for divorce."

Asked if Humphries has realized that he was used by reality TV's first family, Hutton said, "Yeah. Kris came to that realization soon as Kim filed for divorce."

This big taste question lingering for the Kardashians is whether Odom's hospital stay will be part of the next season of the show, which has been in a ratings decline. Khloé (whom I suspect genuinely loves/loved Odom) is still making medical decisions for Lamar, after his embarrassing brothel emergency, because their divorce is not final. Odom is out of a coma, breathing on his own and professing his love for Khloé, according to what his former coach Jim Harrick told CNN.

Callahan seems to lean toward thinking Odom's crisis will be mined for ratings: "The Kardashians let it be known that they 'dropped everything' when they heard of Odom's collapse, as if this were a heroic response rather than a merely decent one." She notes the family's favorite media outlets are having no trouble getting "unobstructed views of matriarch Kris and her daughters outside the hospital, dressed in designer black dresses as if they were all widowed first ladies, straining to show distress on perfectly made-up, Botoxed faces."

Asked if he thinks the Odom crisis will be part of upcoming shows, Hutton said, "It's reality TV. Cameras are everywhere."

'10 carats' has a nice ring to it

I dragged JB Hudson CEO Jeannie Joas through the Nicollet Mall entrance of her jewelry store to get her to give me an explanation of exactly what is going on with all this inconvenient construction that's going to take a couple of years.

While she was talking I noticed her enormous yellow diamond ring with emerald-cut diamonds on each side. It's not big enough, I said in jest, of the diamond that Joas said was 10 carats. "It needs some Miracle-Gro," she said, laughing.

The next day, Joas informed me she had overstated the yellow diamond's size. It wasn't quite 10 carats. "It really does need some Miracle-Gro!"

C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on Fox 9's "Jason Show." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count. Attachments are not opened.