Khloe Kardashian’s hoopster hubby is slapping down accusations he faked out fans with his charity Cathy’s Kids.
According to ESPN, the foundation that Lamar Odom started in 2004 after his mom died of cancer hasn’t given a dime to cancer causes despite its stated mission to do so.
The charity already has raised more than $2 million, ESPN said, but its work so far amounts to some $1.3 million spent on youth basketball teams, the sports network reported.
Eight years of tax records show the rest of the money went to cover they charity's expenses, an investigation by ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” found.
“It is unfortunate that Lamar Odom has been the target of an attack on athletes' charities, although he has personally contributed approximately $2.2 million to his foundation,” Odom’s reps said in a statement to the Daily News.
The reps underscored the fact that the charity's second stated goal is the funding of programs for inner-city youth.
”The millions of dollars personally contributed by Lamar constituted more than 90% of the money raised by the foundation,” the statement said. “All of the funds donated by Lamar and the other contributions to Cathy's Kids were used for one of the foundation's intended charitable purposes. Not one penny went to help Lamar personally or any member of his family.”
ESPN took issue with Odom’s charity as part of an investigation of athlete charities released Sunday.
The sports network posted the charity’s tax returns online and said it failed to fulfill its public promise to support cancer-related research, clinics and education.
Indeed, an eBay store fronted by Kardashian and Odom claims that all auction items sold from their personal collections “benefit Cathy’s Kids, a Lamar Odom foundation.”
The personalized eBay site says the NBA forward created the tax-exempt charity to help innercity kids as well as fight “a disease that has played a significant role in his life, cancer.”
“Lamar lost his mother to stomach cancer and subsequently is committed to help causes that are focused on finding a cure and helping people who suffer from the disease,” it states.
According to ESPN, the only paid executive for Cathy’s Kids was Jerry DeGregorio, Odom’s high school coach and the best man at his wedding to Kardashian.
As secretary of the noprofit from 2004 through 2011, DeGregorio made a median annual salary of about $72,000.
When “Outside the Lines” confronted Odom about Cathy's Kids in a locker room after a game, the Clippers player reportedly “became visibly upset.”
He later apologized for the scene but still didn’t answer questions about his charity, ESPN said.
The IRS audited Cathy’s Kids for its “most active five-year period” from 2005 to 2009 and “its exempt status was upheld,” a recent letter sent to ESPN by a lawyer representing Odom and Cathy’s Kids reportedly said.
The charity’s income and deductions were not challenged, the later stated.
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