In 2011, Kim Kardashian married NBA star player, Kris Humphries. A two-part E! Special was filmed featuring all the extensive preparations and the elaborate wedding itself. Kardashian looked like an hour-glass vision in pristine white, the beaming groom looked like the picture of joy. The wedding reportedly cost $10 million. Alas, the union lasted a grand total of 72 days. Kardashian filed for divorce and, needless to say, given the public nature of the Kardashians personal lives and their ongoing filming of a new season of Keeping Up With Kardashians, speculation soon ran wild. Many believed that the marriage had been an expertly curated, money-grabbing PR stunt devised by reality TV’s hardest working mother, Kris Jenner. Following the divorce announcement, papers leaked to the press outlining the lucrative deals that Kardashian had scored over the brief marriage. Amongst the payments was a $1.1 million pay out for exclusive wedding photos from People Magazine and $1 million from E! News for the wedding special.
Over the years, Kardashian has repeatedly denied the allegations surrounding the marriage’s authenticity and wholeheartedly assured her many fans that the relationship was real. In her official statement announcing the end of the relationship, Kardashian shared, “I hope everyone understands this was not an easy decision. I had hoped this marriage was forever but sometimes things don’t work out as planned.” Despite his ex-wife’s now ubiquitous media presence, Kris Humphries has long remained silent. Now, eight years after the public split, Kris is speaking out after having penned a personal essay for the Players’ Tribune.
“Look, 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,” he wrote. “There’s definitely a lot about that world that is not entirely real,” he went on. “But our actual relationship was 100% real. When it was clear that it wasn’t working … what can I say? It sucked.” Kris went on to express his embarrassment surrounding the media circus and the deterioration of the relationship, revealing, “It’s never easy to go through the embarrassment of something like that — with your friends, with your family. But when it plays out so publicly, in front of the world, it’s a whole other level. It was brutal. I didn’t want to be Kris Humphries. It’s the craziest feeling in the world, not wanting to be yourself. And I didn’t even want to say anything to defend myself, because it felt like I couldn’t win. You can’t go up against the tabloids. You can’t go up against that machine.”
The basketball player also went into detail about his depression following the divorce. “It’s never easy to go through the embarrassment of something like that — with your friends, with your family. But when it plays out so publicly, in front of the world, it’s a whole other level. It was brutal. I didn’t want to be Kris Humphries. It’s the craziest feeling in the world, not wanting to be yourself. And I didn’t even want to say anything to defend myself, because it felt like I couldn’t win. You can’t go up against the tabloids. You can’t go up against that machine.” You can read Humphries’ full essay, here.