During her deposition in the lawsuit she filed against Los Angeles County, Vanessa Bryant, the widow of NBA legend Kobe Bryant, shared the details of how she found out about Bryant’s death for the first time. In her testimony, Bryant explained that she was at home with her youngest two daughters when a family assistant informed her that Kobe and their daughter Gianna had been in a helicopter accident. Bryant was informed of the accident at 11:30 a.m. — nearly two hours after it occurred.
“She told me that there was an accident and that there were five survivors,” Bryant testified, via USA Today. “And I asked her if Gianna and Kobe were OK. And she said she wasn’t sure. She didn’t know.”
Bryant revealed that she unsuccessfully tried to call her husband, and then tried to fly to the crash site via helicopter, but wasn’t permitted to fly due to inclement weather. Bryant also said that she recovered the clothes that Kobe and Gianna wore during the crash due to concerns that pictures would be taken of them.
Bryant’s lawsuit against L.A. county accuses police and fire department members of inappropriately taking, and sharing, photos of the crash site and those involved in the crash. The lawsuit seeks damages “for negligence, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.” Following this incident, legislation that makes it a misdemeanor for first responders to take unauthorized photos of deceased people at the scene of an accident or crime was signed into law.
“They suffered a lot,” Bryant said of the clothes during the deposition, via the New York Times. “And if their clothes represent the condition of their bodies, I cannot imagine how someone could be so callous and have no regard for them or their friends and just share the images as if they were animals on the street.”
Bryant previously settled a wrongful death lawsuit against the charter company and the estate of the operating helicopter pilot responsible for the crash, along with the families of the other victims. The terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed.
