Lamar Odom Booed and Heckled at Trump's Crypto Dinner: ‘Shame!'
The former Los Angeles Lakers forward and reality TV star uploaded a video of himself Thursday walking into Trump's Virginia golf resort, where protesters had gathered to speak out against the crypto event, which has sparked outrage and allegations of corruption and ethics violations involving the president.
The exclusive black-tie dinner was reserved for the top 220 buyers who poured tens of millions of dollars into the $TRUMP cryptocurrency. As more people purchase $TRUMP, the value of the memecoin spikes, ultimately financially benefiting Trump and his family.
Despite the competition ending on May 12, details of the top investors invited to dine with Trump remained a mystery. No official guest list was provided by the White House or those behind the $TRUMP competition, with many crypto investors using an anonymous online pseudonym.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt defended the secrecy surrounding the paid-for-access event on Thursday afternoon by saying it is 'not a White House dinner.'
Odom revealed himself to be among the top 220 global investors in $TRUMP by posting the clip of himself arriving at the dinner while simultaneously trying hawk his own memecoin.
'I'm just about to pass through security and officially walk into the Trump Gala. Honestly… I'm fired up,' Odom posted on X, sharing a video of himself being booed by protesters. 'Think about it—what meme coin has ever done this? $ODOM isn't just a token, it's taking the stage at a presidential gala tonight!'
Representatives for Odom did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
As an athlete, Odom is best known for the seven years he spent at the Lakers, where he won two NBA championships.
Outside basketball, Odom gained wider recognition for his rocky marriage to Khloe Kardashian, which played out on reality TV, as well as a highly publicized drug addiction. Odom's fall from grace was complete when he was found unconscious and near death in a Nevada brothel in 2015 following a drug overdose.
Thursday's crypto dinner event, and the frantic bidding process for invitations, has provoked accusations that Trump is openly profiting while in office.
Critics have also accused Trump of offering anyone, including foreign nationals and those with vested interests, direct access to the president if they throw enough money his way.
'This is the crypto corruption club,' Sen. Jeff Merkley shouted while protesting outside the event, according to The New York Times. 'This is like the Mount Everest of corruption.'
'Every time there's a transaction, he gets a transaction fee? It's just unconscionable,' Ken Papaj, a former Treasury Department official who also protested the dinner, told NBC News. 'He's using the presidency to make himself and his family richer. It's just not right for that to be happening in our country.'
Chinese-born Crypto billionaire Justin Sun confirmed in a post Tuesday on X that he was the top buyer of $TRUMP after spending about $40 million on the memecoin. Sun, owner of the crypto platform Tron, attended the event with Trump after years of avoiding the U.S., fearing arrest.
The Department of Justice began investigating Sun for alleged financial crimes from 2021 to at least 2023, according to The Wall Street Journal.
It is unclear whether the DOJ is still pursuing the case, but Sun's long stay in Hong Kong meant he missed his shot at flying on Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin spacecraft in 2021, having originally secured a spot on the ship.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has also accused Sun of market manipulation, claiming he directed his employees to buy and sell Tron's TRX cryptocurrency to artificially inflate prices.
Rep. Sean Casten urged the DOJ to investigate whether Trump's crypto dinner 'violates federal bribery laws or the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution,' which prohibits federal officials from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments or individuals.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
Leavitt also dismissed allegations of wrongdoing by Trump over the event.
'It's absurd for anyone to insinuate that this president is profiting off of the presidency,' Leavitt told reporters Thursday afternoon. 'This president was incredibly successful before giving it all up to serve our country publicly.'
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