Interview

Larsa Pippen Defends Dating Malik Beasley While Knowing He Was Married: ‘They Had Issues’

EXCLUSIVE: Larsa Pippen and Malik Beasley cuddle on a luxury yacht in these exclusive pictures taken on the basketball star’s recent 24th birthday - a date when he was expected to be celebrating at home with his wife and family. Sources close to the Minnesota Timberwolves player’s estranged wife Montana Yao had previously told TMZ that she had expected Malik to be at home for his birthday. But instead these pictures from November 26 show where he really was - living it up on a multi-million boat in Miami with new girlfriend Larsa, 24. In the pictures Larsa is seen wearing a tight pink mini dress as she hugged the basketball star. 26 Nov 2020 Pictured: Larsa Pippen and Malik Beasley. Photo credit: MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA722325_001.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]
EXCLUSIVE: New couple Larsa Pippen and Malik Beasley get in the festive spirit as they pose in front of a giant Christmas tree in his hometown of Minnesota. The Real Housewives of Miami star, 46, and the Minnesota Timberwolves point guard, 24, posed for the camera on Sunday, December 20. 20 Dec 2020 Pictured: Larsa Pippen and Malik Beasley. Photo credit: MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA722344_001.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]
EXCLUSIVE: Larsa Pippen wears a very revealing top and holds hands with Malik Beasley as she hits the mall in Miami. Larsa, who recently revealed she had been battling Covid-19, made headlines earlier this month for claiming that she dated Tristan Thompson prior to his relationship with Khloé Kardashian. During an interview on the Hollywood Raw podcast, Larsa said that she dated the NBA player shortly before he began a romance with the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star in 2016. "I was kinda seeing Tristan before Khloé. Before Khloé or any of them knew he existed," said Larsa, whose estranged husband Scottie Pippen filed for divorce that year. "I was seeing him, I had him come to L.A., I brought him to a party Kim [Kardashian] had. I introduced him to all of them.". 23 Nov 2020 Pictured: Larsa Pippen, Malik Beasley. Photo credit: MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA716931_001.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency]
EXCLUSIVE: Larsa Pippen and Malik Beasley cuddle on a luxury yacht in these exclusive pictures taken on the basketball star’s recent 24th birthday - a date when he was expected to be celebrating at home with his wife and family. Sources close to the Minnesota Timberwolves player’s estranged wife Montana Yao had previously told TMZ that she had expected Malik to be at home for his birthday. But instead these pictures from November 26th show where he really was - living it up on a multi-million boat in Miami with new girlfriend Larsa, 46. In the pictures Larsa is seen wearing a tight pink mini dress as she hugged the basketball star. 26 Nov 2020 Pictured: Larsa Pippen and Malik Beasley. Photo credit: MEGA TheMegaAgency.com +1 888 505 6342 (Mega Agency TagID: MEGA722325_002.jpg) [Photo via Mega Agency] View Gallery View Gallery 5 Photos.
Deputy Editor of New York City

In a new interview, Larsa Pippen tells all about her relationship with Malik Beasley, including why she doesn’t feel she did anything wrong by hanging out with him before his divorce.

When Larsa Pippen, 46, and Malik Beasley, 24, were first photographed together in Nov. 2020, she knew he was still technically married to his wife, Montana Yao. “We had spoken about it,” Larsa told Hollywood Unlocked in a Feb. 15 interview. “It wasn’t a secret. I know a lot of people that are married and exiting. I’ve played that part. So for me, if you’re not being shady and you’re telling me all your stuff, I’m going to believe you.”

Larsa also explained that Malik wasn’t trying to hide anything from the public. In fact, before the two were even spotted holding hands, he had been ‘liking’ and commenting on her social media pictures, despite still being legally married to Montana. “A lot of people are not happy in their situations and they don’t want to jump ship until they see someone they like,” Larsa added. “You don’t want to just shake your kids up because you might never meet someone that you actually like. You’re in a state of living in the same place, but not really together.”

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Larsa Pippen cozies up to Malik Beasley while celebrating his birthday. (MEGA)

She also made it clear that she was not the cause of Malik and Montana’s breakup, which eventually concluded with Montana filing for divorce in December. “I Googled them when I first met him — they weren’t together,” Larsa insisted. “They had issues before. It had nothing to do with me, so I wasn’t thinking anything about it. If you spent a minute Googling their situation, it wasn’t the ideal situation way before me.”

At the end of the day, though, Larsa said that she wished she her first public outing with Malik didn’t become as big as it did. “What’s the point of taking a beating over a guy I had just started talking to?” she said. “It was really stupid. I just feel like I need to do a better job of not being public with my situation. I wasn’t trying to be public with this situation, but it just went and happened that way.”

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Larsa Pippen and Malik Beasley match in black outfits for a photo together. (MEGA)
When it came to defining her relationship with Malik, Larsa explained that she’s just “hanging out” with the basketball player and “isn’t sure” what the future holds. The interviewer also pointed out that Malik plays for the same basketball team as Jordyn Woods‘ boyfriend, Karl-Anthony Towns. As fans know, Larsa and Jordyn have a complicated history, as Larsa was the first one to tell the Kardashians about Khloe Kardashian’s boyfriend, Tristan Thompson, kissing Jordyn at a party in 2019. However, Larsa insisted she has no bad blood with Jordyn. “I’d be nice to her [if I saw her],” she said. “I’d say hi. I have no reason not to.”
After a falling out with the Kardashians in 2020, Larsa also had no shame in admitting that she felt that the family treated Jordyn unfairly in the situation with Tristan. While Jordyn is no longer friends with the Kardashians, Tristan has been welcomed back into the family. “I think she took a beating,” Larsa admitted. “She took a beating and the guy got forgiven.” The Boston Celtics star shares a daughter, True Thompson, 2, with Khloe.