Fans were saddened Tuesday night, when a TMZ report that Lamar Odom had been found unconscious in a Nevada brothel surfaced. According to the site, Odom was found by a woman who claims that she screamed for the manager, who allegedly turned Odom over and found "mucus-type liquid coming out of his nose and mouth." The report also alleged that Odom was taken to a hospital, intubated, and then air-lifted to a Las Vegas hospital. According to USA Today sports reporter Jeff Zillgitt, the Nye County Sheriff confirmed these reports with an email statement. TMZ claims to have spoken to the owner of the brothel where Odom was allegedly found, Dennis Hof. But did Hof know Odom, beyond owning the brothel where Odom was allegedly found?
There is no evidence of any friendship or prior relationship between Odom and Hof.
(Update: Hof told the Los Angeles Times that when the former Laker was at the Love Ranch, he "wanted to get away from everybody, wanted to have fun." Hof also claimed that Odom was in a "somber" mood on Sunday, but that "Other than that, [he was in] good spirits, wanted to have a good time.")
The brothel owner is known more widely for the HBO series The Moonlite BunnyRanch, which is the name of a property that he purchased and turned into the Love Ranch location where Odom was reportedly found. He is known to be friendly with porn star Ron Jeremy (pictured below) and Hof was, at one time, engaged to famed Hollywood madam, Heidi Fleiss (pictured with Hof below) according to a report from Wenn.com.
Most recently, Hof made headlines when he announced that he would begin paying his workers' student loan debts.
As for any connection to Odom, it appears that Hof was nothing more than the owner of the brothel in which Odom was reportedly found.
Bustle has reached out to Hof for comment regarding these saddening reports.
