Larsa Pippen Speaks out About Dating Malik Beasley While He Was Married

Larsa Pippen is speaking out about dating Malik Beasley following the controversial start of their relationship, insisting that the married NBA player was already separated from his wife Montana Yao when they first began dating. The former Real Housewives of Miami star, 46, claimed on Saturday’s episode of Hollywood Unlocked that the accusations Yao made about Beasley cheating on her with Pippen were far from the true situation.

“We had spoken about it. It wasn’t a secret. I know a lot of people that are married and exiting,” Pippen said of Beasley and Yao’s separation. “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.”

Yao filed for divorce in December after the 24-year-old basketball player was photographed holding hands with Pippen, claiming that she was kicked out of her home along with 23-month-old son Makai because of the Minnesota Timberwolves player’s alleged infidelity. Pippen, however, claimed on Saturday’s episode that Beasley and his model wife had been broken up for a while before she began her romance with him.

“A lot of people are not happy in their situations and they don’t want to jump ship until they see someone they like,” the Keeping Up With the Kardashians alum noted. “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.” She claimed that she had searched the internet when she first met Beasley and found out they weren’t together, so felt free to move in on her man.

“They had issues before,” she explained. “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.” Moving forward in her relationship after the wave of backlash, Pippen said she plans on doing a better job at “not being public” with her situation. “What’s the point of taking a beating over a guy I had just started talking to?” she asked.

Pippen was previously married to NBA legend Scottie Pippen, from whom she separated in 2015 before getting back together in 2017. The former couple split for good in 2018 after 19 years of marriage and have since been going through a divorce. The two share sons Scottie Jr., 20, Preston, 18, and Justin, 15, as well as daughter Sophia, 12.