TOI.inFormer NBA champion and reality TV personality Lamar Odom was at the center of controversy and protest when he joined President Donald Trump's exclusive cryptocurrency dinner in Sterling, Virginia, on May 22, 2025.
Odom, who has become a busy participant in the crypto community, was one of 220 top investors who received access to the event by being leading holders of Trump's $TRUMP meme coin—a coin that has generated both financial hype and political controversy.
Upon reaching Trump National Golf Club, Odom was greeted with a cacophony of boos and catcalls by protesters. People jeered and yelled "Hypocrite!" while displaying placards reading such things as "Don the Con" and "No Kings," fueled by wrath not only against Trump's crypto initiatives but also against celebrities and investors who were giving them credibility.
Odom, unbothered, posted a video to social media, declaring, “I’m just about to pass through security and officially walk into the Trump Gala.
Honestly… I’m fired up,” and used the moment to promote his own cryptocurrency, $ODOM, claiming it was “taking the stage at a presidential gala tonight!
Within, the mood was similarly charged. While the elite 25 coin holders had a closed reception and a White House tour, the majority were left with little more than a cursory speech from Trump, who was in attendance for only around 23 minutes before leaving by helicopter.
Some guests, such as 25-year-old Nicholas Pinto, were disappointed with the cuisine and not being able to meaningfully interact with the president, despite having collectively paid almost $148 million for the coin. The event has attracted scathing denunciations from Democrats and ethics specialists, who contend that it provided privileged access to the president in return for money from deep-pocketed donors, sparking concerns about possible federal bribery law violations as well as the Constitution's emoluments clause.
The White House, though, pooh-poohed suggestions of profiteering, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt labeling such allegations "absurd".
For Odom, the night was another installment in his complicated public odyssey-from NBA celebrity and reality-television popularity to crypto entrepreneurship-while the wider controversy highlighted the intensifying overlap between celebrity, politics, and digital money in America's new Gilded Age.
Odom, who has become a busy participant in the crypto community, was one of 220 top investors who received access to the event by being leading holders of Trump's $TRUMP meme coin—a coin that has generated both financial hype and political controversy.
Upon reaching Trump National Golf Club, Odom was greeted with a cacophony of boos and catcalls by protesters. People jeered and yelled "Hypocrite!" while displaying placards reading such things as "Don the Con" and "No Kings," fueled by wrath not only against Trump's crypto initiatives but also against celebrities and investors who were giving them credibility.
Odom, unbothered, posted a video to social media, declaring, “I’m just about to pass through security and officially walk into the Trump Gala.
Honestly… I’m fired up,” and used the moment to promote his own cryptocurrency, $ODOM, claiming it was “taking the stage at a presidential gala tonight!
Within, the mood was similarly charged. While the elite 25 coin holders had a closed reception and a White House tour, the majority were left with little more than a cursory speech from Trump, who was in attendance for only around 23 minutes before leaving by helicopter.
Some guests, such as 25-year-old Nicholas Pinto, were disappointed with the cuisine and not being able to meaningfully interact with the president, despite having collectively paid almost $148 million for the coin. The event has attracted scathing denunciations from Democrats and ethics specialists, who contend that it provided privileged access to the president in return for money from deep-pocketed donors, sparking concerns about possible federal bribery law violations as well as the Constitution's emoluments clause.
The White House, though, pooh-poohed suggestions of profiteering, with Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt labeling such allegations "absurd".
For Odom, the night was another installment in his complicated public odyssey-from NBA celebrity and reality-television popularity to crypto entrepreneurship-while the wider controversy highlighted the intensifying overlap between celebrity, politics, and digital money in America's new Gilded Age.
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