Will and Kate they are not. After an all-too-brief 72 days, Kim Kardashian’s latest marriage has ended, irreparably broken. Alas, what began as a fairy-tale affair between the reality television princess and NBA “star” Kris Humphries appears now to be little more than a “kash” transfer. According to several reports, the marriage ruptured because Kardashian felt Humphries was mooching off her family’s $65 million 2010 income. As one of Kim’s friends said, she was constantly upset with Kris because “he doesn’t have anything going on.” Why doesn’t he have anything going on? Because the NBA is in the midst of a lockout that has already cost the league a month of play, leaving Humphries without a day-job or a pay check. Was this marriage just a rotten publicity stunt destined to implode, or did Humphries’ unemployment actually have something to do with it?
A 2008 study of 3,500 British marital partnerships (including cohabitations) found that a couple had a 33 percent higher chance of breaking up when the man was unemployed, and an 83 percent higher chance when the woman is out of work. (Whether appearing on “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” counts as work is another question.) The authors of the study chalk up the results to two factors: dissatisfaction with income and mental distress. While the mental issues lead both men and women to call it off, the study found that only women are likely to breakup a partnership because of financial problems. In other words, the NBA lockout seems at least partially to blame for Kim and Kris's divorce. If the NBA players’ union and the owners don’t come to an agreement soon, Khloe Kardashian and her L.A. Lakers hubby Lamar Odom may be next. For Pete’s sake, David Stern, do something already!