Tristan Thompson has continued to be a presence in Khloé Kardashian’s life — and therefore her family’s Hulu reality show as well — despite Thompson no longer being romantically involved with the mother of two of his children. Forgiveness definitely seems to be the word of the day during his frequent appearances on The Kardashians, but it seems not all members of the Kardashian-Jenner family tree are willing to move on so quickly. Kourtney Kardashian alluded to her daughter Penelope struggling with the NBA player following his multiple cheating scandals, and I love the response Khloé had for her 11-year-old niece.
On the November 2 episode of The Kardashians, “You’re Spiraling” (available to stream with a Hulu subscription), Kourtney Kardashian made sure to warn Penelope that Tristan Thompson was coming over with Khloé Kardashian to pick the pre-teen up, admitting that some of her own negative emotions had rubbed off on her daughter. When Khloé was asked what she thought of her niece’s concerns, she said:
I’m really proud of myself for where me and Tristan are and how I am able to allow him to be the father he wants to be. But where I am at with Tristan has nothing to do with what I expect my family members to do. If Penelope has her feelings about Tristan, rightfully so. And good for you, girl.
I love that Khloé Kardashian validates Penelope’s feelings, rather than defend Tristan Thompson’s actions or try to make her see it the way Khloé sees it — as the healthiest-possible co-parenting situation for their two kids. Khloé seems to understand that the tween was affected by how Thompson hurt her (and Kourtney by extension), and she had nothing but support for her niece’s emotions, continuing:
I want Penelope to have these feelings and I don’t want to talk her out of them, because I don’t want this behavior to be something that I’m validating or justifying. I want her to know that how she’s feeling is the right way to feel. We should not accept someone treating us like this.
Kourtney Kardashian explained to the show’s producers that Penelope knew that Tristan Thompson’s behavior had “triggered her,” which contributed to her daughter’s presumed discomfort, and the eldest Kardashian said she sometimes finds it hard to brush off the hurt he has caused. In Kourtney’s words:
Tristan has made horrible decisions and choices, you know, with my sister. There’s times when I’m so triggered by him I can’t be around him. And then there’s times when I just let it go because we just want harmony and he’s the father of my niece and nephew.
Honestly, it’s somewhat of a relief to hear that Kourtney Kardashian and Penelope Disick didn’t just forgive and forget the way others in the family seemed to. I’m all for forgiveness, but I find it pretty hard to watch when Kris Jenner and Corey Gamble seem to be trying to force the couple back together, and some reports suggest that Khloe is “furious” over Kim Kardashian’s friendship with Tristan Thompson.
Khloé Kardashian must have to deal with a lot of opposing emotions when it comes to her large family and her situation with Tristan Thompson, but I love to see her respecting even the youngest members’ feelings and letting Penelope know that she’s right to feel however she does. If you want to continue to watch the saga play out, new episodes of The Kardashians are released each Thursday, and be sure to check out what else is new and coming soon to Hulu.