UPDATE
8:04 PM PT -- Lamar's former manager Gina Rodriguez tells TMZ ... "From 2023 to 2025 Lamar Odom owned Odom Recovery Group which was a marketing company for rehabs, senior living and dental. He never started a business with Dante or Martinez, in fact they opened "Odom Wellness
Treatment Centers" as a LLC in early 2023 without Lamar on it and Lamar's attorney had it closed by May of 2023 when it came to Lamar's attention."She continues ... "Lamar chose not to work with them because of them opening the business without his name on it. This story they made up about the marijuana is not true. I have all the communication from them and so does the attorney. This was merely a sad attempt at getting themselves some press with a false story."
In response to Gina's statement, Dontae tells TMZ ... he stands by everything he said on the record in our previous story.
Lamar Odom's rehab business partnership is officially over ... but TMZ Sports has learned the split has nothing to do with his DUI arrest this past weekend.
Christian hip-hop artist Dontae Ralston tells TMZ ... Lamar parted ways with his rehab business partners at Odom Wellness Treatment Centers less than a year after acquiring the facilities, with the breakup going down around late 2023 or early 2024.
Dontae and Hall of Fame skateboarder Dennis Martinez decided to end their partnership with the former NBA star because Lamar continued publicly promoting marijuana, despite being affiliated with rehab centers that frequently treat patients specifically for marijuana addiction.
We're told that created an unavoidable conflict with the core values and mission of the treatment centers. According to Dontae, he and Martinez put their heart and soul into the rehab work and truly want the best for Lamar, but under those circumstances, the partnership simply wasn't sustainable.
Despite the split, Dontae says there's no animosity, explaining they still pray for Lamar and continue to hope he succeeds. "We still try to communicate," Dontae tells us, adding, "Lamar is Lamar."
As we reported ... Lamar teamed up with Ralston and Martinez to acquire multiple rehab facilities in California in April 2023. A rep for Odom told us at the time the venues included a women's residential treatment home and two men's detox and residential treatment homes.
The facilities were set to operate under the name "Odom Wellness Treatment Centers," and Lamar vowed to be "highly involved" with patients, saying he was "ready to start saving lives."
Again, the business split predates Lamar’s DUI arrest this weekend. We broke the story, Odom was arrested and booked early Saturday morning after being pulled over on suspicion of DUI. He was also cited for driving more than 41 miles per hour over the limit and improper lane change/failure to maintain lane.
Comments
Post a Comment