BACKLASH: Kardashian treatment of ailing Lamar comes under fire

Now into an unprecedented 11th series of their family's mega-hit reality TV show, they are certainly used to having their every move watched and commented upon.

That and brand Kardashian-Jenner is never dormant: from momager Kris to youngest Kylie, they are masters of shameless self-promotion.

It's been a remarkably effective policy: collectively, the family is said to be worth more than a quarter of a billion euro – and that valuation was done before they all launched apps and websites that will rake them in millions every month.

However, in light of Lamar Odom's tragic collapse in a Nevada brothel last week, commentators are becoming increasingly critical of the way in which the six-strong group of glamorous females have been conducting themselves.  

Khloe Kardashian, of course, married the 35-year-old basketball star in 2009 following a whirlwind, one-month long romance. 

They had split by December 2013 and divorce papers were signed in July, but as the documentation has not yet been processed, they remain married in the eyes of the law.

Within hours of Mr Odom’s hospitalisation, Khloe, Kris and 7-months-pregnant Kim had all hopped on a private plane to see him.

According to Radar Online, they had a camera crew in tow, although this was later played down by the family themselves.

“It’s a s*** show,” an unnamed source told the website. “The Kardashians are trying to run everything. They walked into the hospital with cameras rolling.

"It was shocking, but hardly a surprise…They are all crying and pretending like they care.”

Radar Online furthermore claims that fame-shy Lamar was pressurised by Khloe into remaining central to Keeping Up With The Kardashians plotlines – even AFTER the breakdown of their marriage.

Indeed, it was widely reported that the catalyst which finally drove a clearly stressed Mr Odom over the edge was the KUWTK episode which aired a week ago today. 

In it, the viewer is told that Mr Odom’s best friend had died of drug-related causes – he’d called Khloe for consolation, and her side of the conversation was documented on camera.

She later told the show's fans that the death could well cause Lamar "to spiral". “I’m really on high alert for him," she added.

In the same episode, 34-year-old Kim said that the idea of Khloe, 31, still talking to Mr Odom makes her "sick.”

In the aftermath, his response – according to Mail Online – was  to angrily declare that "he was better than the Kardashians. "F*** them," he is reported to have said.

The website goes on to say that the former LA Lakers players ranted that he had been exploited for ratings. "He felt chewed up and spat out," a Mail Online source added.

Even only brother Rob, 28, who has struggled with his weight, has been gradually distancing himself from his mother and sisters. 

For one, he has refused to take part in the family's reality TV show business for close-to two years. Star magazine wrote 18months ago that Kris, 59, had even called him "a fat slob".

She supposedly also told him that as the lowest earner of the Kardashian-Jenner clan he was "losing out on business opportunities because no one wants someone as huge as him representing their products".

"Rob feels that the show has truly ­ruined his family," an additional source told Radar that same month. "He feels very alone."

Heartbreakingly, it has even been said that Kim didn't want Rob at her Italian wedding to Kanye West in May of last year because he was "too fat and ugly for pictures".

Whatever the truth, Mr Kardashian sensationally flew back to LA before his sister and the rap superstar said 'I do'.

As recently as August, Khloe and Lamar met outside a Beverly Hills gym: her camp strongly suggested he was stalking her; he later told TMZ the rendezvous was very much pre-arranged. 

"I am not, not, NOT the person that they are trying to make me out to be," he afterwards stated in a remarkably candid video interview.

He added that it was his time to "fight back," before seemingly issuing a threat to the Kardashians: "If it happens again I'm going to air EVERYTHING out."

The basketball player also explained that his reputation as a drug-user and womaniser was unfair, and that he "doesn't put himself out there" on Twitter and Instagram – unlike the famous family he married into.

Fast forward to this week and although initially his condition looked bleak, Lamar has now thankfully shown signs of improvement. He clearly has a long-road to recovery ahead of him – with the strokes he suffered in hospital being of particular concern.

Meanwhile, the Kardashian family, who of course like to have full control over their own publicity, have been rocked by the incident.

Indeed, they were particularly upset that Dennis Hoff, the owner of the brothel where Mr Odom collapsed, was talking to the media without their consent (and interestingly, reportedly one of the first people on the scene was a 'representative' of Khloe's who was there to 'collect Lamar's personal effects'). 

That they have genuine concern for Mr Odom's well-being is undeniable. Nonetheless, Kris Jenner Inc will also be hoping that her soon-to-be ex son-in-law doesn't, propelled by his near-death experience, follow through on his threats to "air everything out" 

Lamar himself will presumably just be hoping he doesn't have to.