The Truth About Lauren Wood And Odell Beckham Jr.'s Relationship
NFL player Odell Beckham Jr. disappointed some of his smitten fans when he went public with model Lauren Wood in November 2019. The first-round pick in the 2014 NFL draft had never publicly confirmed a love interest before Lauren "Lolo" Wood came around, meaning she's probably pretty special to the athlete. It was on Beckham Jr.'s 27th birthday when the "Wild N Out" model seemingly made their romance Instagram official, according to The Sun.
"Happy birthday @obj," she captioned a blurry pic of the two. "Your soul is pure gold. U know I can write lot about you, but I rather keep passing these love letters." Odell appeared to confirm their romance by liking the photo and hopping in the comments section, writing, "YUMI.... I'm riding wit u, I got ur back. U kno what it is. LOVE queen!" before adding, My slime." The pair reportedly dated for a few months before the Instagram upload, per The Blast.
Here's what else we know about this former pairing.
Odell Beckham Jr.'s mama even liked Lauren Wood
In November 2019, Odell Beckham Jr's mother, Heather Van Norman, further confirmed his relationship with Lauren Wood and her support for it by sharing a photo slide of the two at his Cleveland Browns game. "#nuffsaid @lolowood_," she captioned a pair of photos of them wearing personalized jerseys that read "Mama Bear" and "Yumi," a nod to Beckham Jr.'s and Woods nicknames for each other.
For Beckham Jr.'s birthday in November 2020, Wood showered the Louisiana native with love on Instagram. "Happy birthday to my best friend. u r my missing puzzle piece," she captioned a pair of photos of Beckham Jr planting kisses on her cheek. "Your energy is tooo raw & im grateful to experience it. I believe in you & got your back. I've never met a you before, a different breed of MAN."
Although it's apparent Beckham Jr. and Wood were open on social media, don't expect any in-depth interviews on the subject. "You never hear about my personal life," Beckham Jr. told GQ in 2019. "You never hear about the woman I'm dating or anything like that. And you won't. I don't need to give you that. You want to talk about my job, football? We can talk about that. But this is my personal life. There's two separate lines. So I always try to keep that."
Odell Beckham Jr. and Lauren Wood had a son
Odell Beckham Jr. made a major announcement about his relationship with Lauren Wood on December 25, 2021. The couple were expecting a child, and the former Cleveland Browns player uploaded a couple pics from a maternity shoot to Instagram, along with candid snaps of him kissing Wood's baby bump. "My gift won't be wrapped under a tree this year but I can't wait to meet You," he wrote in the Christmas post.
Two months later, the couple welcomed their son, Zydn, into the world. Beckham Jr. was over the moon and shared a photos him and Wood snuggling their newborn on Instagram. "Lauren Wood, u changed my life forever and delivered the most beautiful gift of all ... EFFORTLESSLY!" he wrote in the February 23, 2022 post announcing their son's birth. The following day, Lolo returned the favor and gushed over her boyfriend in an Instagram post celebrating one week of parenthood together. "From my birth experience, to sharing exhaustion with the most supportive, loving partner I could ask for," Wood wrote on February 24, 2022. Later that year, the couple were all smiles when they attended the ESPY Awards together in July 2022. Beckham Jr. and Wood even brought baby Zydn along to the glitzy sporting event.
The following year, the couple appeared on great terms when Beckham Jr. celebrated Wood's birthday by calling her a "dope momma" and "incredible person" in a March 2023 Instagram post, but the couple wound up calling it quits.
Odell Beckham Jr. was romantically linked to Kim Kardashian
Fans were blindsided when reports surfaced that not only had Odell Beckham Jr. and Lauren Wood broken up, but he was dating somebody else. In September 19, 2023, reports flooded in that the Baltimore Ravens receiver was romantically linked to Kim Kardashian. According to a source at Page Six, Beckham Jr. and Kardashian had "been hanging out casually," but mostly among their mutual friend group. The insider added that the NFL player and Wood had called it quits earlier in the year — but there was no definitive timeline on when they officially split. The same day, InTouch reported that Beckham Jr. and the "Kardashians" star were indeed an item, and it was more than casual. "They're dating and Odell even went to Kim's in Calabasas to meet the whole family during one of [Khloé Kardashian's kid's] birthday parties a few weeks ago," the source told the outlet.
A day before the reports of Beckham Jr. possibly dating Kardashian surfaced, Wood posted a few car selfies to Instagram along with a caption that many interpreted as a shot at the rumored relationship. "Staying present in the moment is the closest you get to trusting the unknown," Wood wrote on September 18, 2023. Fans showed up to flood the replies with words of support for the model.
Meanwhile, Beckham Jr. and Kardashian never confirmed their relationship status, but the rumor mill churned extra hard when the Skims CEO attended Beckham Jr.'s star-studded birthday party in New York in November 2023.