Los Angeles County is calling out Vanessa Bryant … claiming she’s subjecting Sheriff’s deputies to harassment by revealing their names in the lawsuit she filed over photos taken at the Kobe helicopter crash site. According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, attorneys for L.A. County say Kobe Bryant’s widow is aggressively conducting a “fishing expedition that is taking first responders away from their jobs.” The County is referring to the fact Vanessa posted the names of 4 deputies who allegedly took pics of remains.
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Two Los Angeles County firefighters could be fired and a third suspended after some first responders took and shared graphic photos from the site of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his teenage daughter and seven others, court documents say. The court documents were filed Monday as part of widow Vanessa Bryant’s federal lawsuit against Los Angeles County that alleges invasion of privacy. The filings propose that a Nov. 16 trial be postponed five months to April 27, 2022, because of a large amount of material that attorneys need to review. Kobe Bryant and the others were killed Jan. 26, 2020, when the helicopter they were aboard crashed west of Los Angeles. Federal safety officials blamed pilot error for the wreck that killed the basketball star, whom Michael Jordan will present for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday.
He still has the final text message saved on his phone. Michael Jordan retrieves it from time to time, even though it refreshes his grief, triggers the urge to wonder all over again, as so many others have, "Why?"
Jordan still can't speak of Kobe without a little hitch in his voice, a catch of emotion that hasn't subsided since he spoke at Bryant's memorial service last February and openly wept over the loss of his "little brother." As the tears streamed down his face, Jordan joked about creating a new Jordan crying meme for the thirsty social media throngs. "I told my wife I wouldn't do this, because I didn't want to see it for the next three or four years," Jordan said on that day. "This is what Kobe Bryant does to me. He knows how to get to you in a way that affects you personally ... even if he is a pain in the ass."
Jordan smiled, then decided to have a little fun. "He was really into coaching Gigi," MJ explains, "so I hit him up about that." "Happy holidays," Jordan texted back, "and hope to catch up soon. Coach Kobe??!" "I added that little crying/laughing emoji," Jordan chuckles. "Ah, back at you, man," Kobe wrote. "Hey, coach, I'm sitting on the bench right now, and we're blowing this team out. 45-8." Eleven days following that exchange, Bryant learned he had been officially nominated for the Hall of Fame as a first-ballot entry. Forty-nine days later, he was gone. "I just love that text," Jordan says, "because it shows Kobe's competitive nature."
"He was a mentally tough kid, maybe even tougher than I was," Jordan says. "Remember, the people who followed me, my fans, didn't like that he was trying to copy what I had done."
Jordan says about six months ago he sent Vanessa a text to check in on her. "I told her, 'Look, I know this is a tough time. I'm always here if you need me,'" Jordan says. "She answered back, 'I would love it if you stood up for Kobe at the Hall of Fame.' "It's going to be a great honor, to be honest. It's like standing up for a family member. He paid me the highest respect by trying to emulate certain things I did. And I can only repay that by showing my support and admiration for a guy who I felt was one of the greatest to ever play the game."
The county of Los Angeles said it took “corrective personnel actions” against any employees who improperly shared photos from the scene of Kobe Bryant’s death last year, but said the photos were not publicly disseminated and that Bryant’s widow is wrong to file a lawsuit over it. The county gave this account in a court filing recently submitted in response to the lawsuit filed last year by Vanessa Bryant, widow of the basketball legend. She is suing the county for invasion of privacy and has accused four Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies of improperly sharing photos of the dead at the site of Bryant’s fatal helicopter crash in January 2020, including one who allegedly showed the photos at a bar two days after the accident.
In an Instagram post Wednesday, Vanessa Bryant named four Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies who allegedly took and shared unauthorised graphic photos of the helicopter crash that killed her husband Kobe, daughter Gianna and seven others. Bryant posted images of lawsuit documents she filed against Los Angeles County, the sheriff’s department, the county fire department and the four deputies in question. Those names were initially redacted while a judge determined whether they could be revealed, a decision that went in her favour earlier this month.
Cruz allegedly "boasted" to a bartender at the Baja California Bar and Grill in Norwalk, California, two days after the crash photos that he had responded to the crash and allegedly showed photos of the accident that he took. The bartender then reportedly approached another table of guests at the restaurant and explained what had happened, something one of the customers described as “very, very disturbing.”
Vanessa Bryant wants to publicly name four Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who her lawyers allege shared “unauthorized” photos of the site of the helicopter crash that killed her husband, Kobe Bryant, their daughter and seven others. County lawyers, however, want to keep the deputies’ names under seal, arguing that releasing them would make the deputies’ addresses and other personal information only a click away on the internet and that hackers could target them.
Bryant’s lawyers, led by Luis Li, a former top L.A. city prosecutor, said in court papers that the county could not cite a single case in which a police officer being sued for civil rights violations has been allowed to remain anonymous. The lawyers argued there is no compelling reason to hide the deputies’ identities, noting that the case cited as precedent by the county in its effort to hide the identities involves sexual harassment victims.
The suit alleges that a deputy trainee guarding a trail that leads to the crash site also received multiple photos of Bryant’s remains and shared them with others, “including several members of the public.” Two days after the crash, he showed the photos to his niece, the suit said. The deputy trainee later went to a Norwalk bar and showed gruesome photographs from the crash scene to a woman and a bartender, and is seen on the bar security camera zooming in and out on the images while displaying them to the bartender, according to the suit. One of the photos showed a girl’s body and another of the basketball star, according to the amended complaint.
The chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said on Tuesday that the pilot, Ara Zobayan, was operating under rules that prohibited him from flying into the clouds, but that he had nonetheless continued. Mr. Zobayan had indicated that he was trying to climb above the clouds while he was actually rapidly falling, a sign that he was disoriented, investigators said.
“This weather did not sneak up on the pilot,” Bill English, the lead investigator on the case, told board members. He said the pilot had crashed just minutes away from an airport where he could have landed. Once disoriented, the pilot seemingly did not reference his instruments, did not understand them or did not trust them, investigators said.
The National Transportation Safety Board will formally announce Tuesday the probable cause of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others. Investigators have been working the case for more than a year ... but the NTSB says it will formally announce its findings at a virtual board meeting that will be live-streamed to the public on Feb. 9.
In the days following the crash, the NTSB said preliminary findings showed no outward evidence of engine failure. Months later, NTSB officials said the pilot, Ara Zobayan, may have been disoriented when the aircraft was caught in deep fog.
The NTSB said in June it found evidence showing Zobayan thought he was ascending over the fog, when in reality, the helicopter was going downward. Autopsy results showed Zobayan was NOT on alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash ... and NTSB investigators said Zobayan’s girlfriend told them he was in great shape before the accident. Unclear if there's new evidence to refute the earlier theory, but it seems likely to us the NTSB will confirm its earlier findings.
Derek Fisher: One of the many ways I am reminded of how special they are and how they are still sending us love is how often I glance at my phone during a hectic day to check the time and it’s 2:24 and they’re both smiling right at me like “what’s up Fish?!” and instantly my perspective shifts to what really matters. Your loss and the loss of those with you on this day 1 year ago will leave a hole in our hearts forever. We miss you both. The world really misses you both. We lift your families up in prayer. V, the girls, your family as well as the Bryant family. We lift all the families up in prayer ????
Vince Carter: Rest In Peace my guy...🙏🏽 Today we honor and remember you and Gigi!! pic.twitter.com/2GVoq1VQTy
With emotions still raw, the Lakers organization has no plans to make this Tuesday, Jan. 26, any more difficult than it already will be by placing any further emphasis on the anniversary, sources told ESPN. There will be no Black Mamba uniforms worn Monday in Cleveland, the day before the anniversary, or Wednesday in Philadelphia, the day after. There will be no formal tribute, which could potentially draw more attention to the harrowing details of the accident and cause more trauma than healing.
"As we approach his one-year anniversary, it saddens our hearts to actually come to the realization that he's gone," Davis said. "I know I still have trouble with it, you still just can't believe it."
"Man, it's a saying that time heals all," James said after a win over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday at the United Center, where Bryant's idol, Michael Jordan, used to play. "And as devastating and as tragic as it was and still is to all of us involved with it, only time. And it takes time. Everyone has their own grieving process."
They wanted to land, to escape this tube 38,000 feet above the ground, then go hug their sons and daughters. Players slumped in disbelief. Coaches retreated to the bathroom to sob. Support staff openly wept. “I definitely don’t want to live out that day again,” LeBron James said nearly one year later.
Signs pointed to James passing Bryant in Philadelphia of all cities. If James maintained his scoring average during the trip, he’d overtake Bryant in the city where he blossomed from high school star to NBA lottery pick. “Seeing a kid, 17 years old come into the NBA and trying to make an impact on a franchise, I used it as motivation,” James said of Bryant. “He helped me before he even knew of me because of what he was able to do.”
Kobe Bryant, as iconic of a Laker as there has ever been, was dead. The helicopter he was aboard had crashed. His daughter, Gianna, along with seven other people were with him. Life within the Lakers organization would never be the same. “I wasn’t sure it was real or not,” Danny Green said. “It’s hard enough for it sink in when you’re wide awake, let alone half sleeping.”
For so many people with the organization, Bryant’s presence was a constant before he was ripped out of their lives. “It’s hard to be in the moment. You think of them,” Green said. “You try to be there for everyone else around you.” Before they left, the teammates cried and embraced, milling around the baggage. Pieces of them were left in the air that day. E\verything changed from that point forward.
The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a hearing on Feb. 9 to determine the cause of the helicopter crash a year ago that killed Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others when it struck a fog-covered hillside in Calabasas. The NTSB, in a preliminary report, ruled out engine and mechanical failure on the Sikorsky S-76B helicopter. But it has yet to provide a probable cause for the Jan. 26, 2020 crash.
Zobayan told air traffic control they were “climbing” to 4,000 feet, when in reality the aircraft was descending. The NTSB’s aircraft performance study said the helicopter banked left and away from the 101 Freeway while communicating with the controller. According to the study, the pilot “could have misperceived both pitch and roll angles,” according to the NTSB documents. “When a pilot misperceives altitude and acceleration it is known as the ‘somatogravic illusion’ and can cause spatial disorientation,” the report said. In other words, acceleration could cause a pilot to sense his aircraft was climbing when it was not.
Vanessa Bryant on Thursday accused her mother of seeking to “extort a financial windfall” from her in the wake of her husband Kobe Bryant’s death by filing a lawsuit claiming she is owed years of back pay for working as an unpaid assistant.
The family feud ratcheted up after Sofia Urbieta Laine sued her 38-year-old daughter for financial support alleging she worked for years as unpaid “longtime personal assistant and nanny” to the couple and that the Lakers legend had “promised to take care” of his mother-in-law for the rest of her days before his death in a helicopter crash Jan 26.
Kobe Bryant is still a titan of industry -- even in death -- so says Forbes which just ranked him #6 on its "Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities of 2020" list. The NBA legend passed away on Jan. 26 in a helicopter crash -- but in the months that followed, his estate pulled in an estimated $20 million in earnings, Forbes says. The main source of income is from shoes and apparel -- with Nike reportedly raking in around $250 mil annually from Mamba items.
Describe the day you learned about the Kobe Bryant tragedy. Steve Nash: I was playing at tennis in L.A., and I felt … almost nothing, in that I just went cold and numb, and I don’t know if it was a defense mechanism, shock or … It took me a long time to really — and I still think I’m coming to grips with it’s actually true. It doesn’t feel real. Having competed my whole career against him, playing with him for a year basically, I hadn’t seen him probably since 2016, and so, you always feel like he’s there and we’ll cross paths one day again. It’s been very difficult for me to come to grips with it.
Baby names are always a mirror of the times. Changes in the 2020 list reflect a year of loss and political divisiveness. Kobe shot up 175% after Kobe Bryant, one of the greatest basketball players of all time, lost his life in a tragic helicopter accident alongside his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna (up 216%). On the social and political fronts, Kamala (up 104%) and Liberty (up 12%) rose in popularity, while Karen and Chad declined by 13% and 12% respectively.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday approved legislation prompted by the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight other people that makes it a crime for first responders to take unauthorized photos of deceased people at the scene of an accident or crime. Reports surfaced after the Jan. 26 crash that killed Bryant, his daughter Gianna and the others that graphic photos of the victims were being shared.
Vanessa Bryant has denied that she kicked her mom out of her home and attacked her for having the 'audacity' to make these claims in a TV interview while she is grieving the loss of her husband Kobe and their daughter Gianna. The widow of NBA star Kobe was forced to defend herself after her mother Sofia Laine gave an explosive interview to Univision airing Monday where she wept that her daughter had evicted her and stripped her of some of her belongings.
Bryant blasted Laine for 'shedding tears for a car and a house that were not in her name' while she continues to mourn for Kobe and 13-year-old Gianna, who both died in a tragic California helicopter crash back in January. She accused her mom of hiding her diamonds and furniture 'to make it look like she doesn't have my support' and slammed her for proving what is 'most important' to her.
Bryant also dismissed insider reports that her mom has been her 'rock' in recent months saying 'she has not been physically present or emotionally supportive' of her or her three other children as they adjust to life without Kobe and Gianna.
Bryant's widow, Vanessa, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the estate of pilot Ara Zobayan and the helicopter company, Island Express Helicopters, on Feb. 24 — the day of Kobe and Gianna's public memorial at the Staples Center. On Friday, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY Sports, lawyers representing the Zobayan estate filed a motion to move the trial from Los Angeles to Orange County (or elsewhere), where the defense team believes a fairer trial can take place, despite its close proximity to LA. All of the victims of the crash resided in Orange County.
The family of Ara Zobayan is begging a judge to move Vanessa Bryant's wrongful death case out of L.A. because Kobe Bryant is so popular there, it would be impossible to get a fair trial. Ara's family spelled it out in new court docs, obtained by TMZ Sports ... saying the trial would begin with "two strikes" already against him "due to the extreme level of popularity of plaintiff with the jury pool." As we previously reported, Vanessa sued Zobayan along with Island Express Helicopters saying they should be held financially responsible for the crash that killed Kobe, Gianna and 6 other passengers.
"The notoriety and popularity of the late Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles County is detailed herein and reached a level that left no person in the county unaware of his role in branding Los Angeles as his city," Zobayan's family says in new court docs. "No other single individual in recent memory, sports figure or otherwise, has been considered by the people to be such a personification of their city of Los Angeles. " "But with that unprecedented level of acclaim comes a lack of impartiality and objectivity by potential jurors about the merits under the law of the claims asserted in this lawsuit by the Bryant family."
Cate Brady, a personal assistant to Bryant, has told National Transportation Safety Board investigators that the NBA legend asked for the doomed flight to be moved forward 45 minutes. Brady said the original flight time for Sunday was 9:45 am, but Bryant had it rescheduled to 9am because he wanted to see another team play before his daughter's game at a youth basketball tournament. “That particular day, for Sunday, I actually changed the time the night before, probably around 6pm or 7pm,” Brady said. “Because Kobe had decided he wanted to go to watch another team play before his game. “So it was supposed to be a 9:45am departure, but the night before it was changed to a 9am departure.”
Vanessa Bryant, wife of the late Kobe Bryant, is urging Congress to pass a new helicopter safety bill named for her husband and daughter who were killed in a crash earlier this year. "I strongly urge that the United States Congress pass a federal law that would improve the safety of helicopters operating in this country," she said in statement. "I believe there is a chance that Kobe and Gianna would still be alive today if their helicopter had been equipped with the safety equipment required by this pending federal legislation."
Cate Brady, a personal assistant to Bryant, has told National Transportation Safety Board investigators that the NBA legend asked for the doomed flight to be moved forward 45 minutes. Brady said the original flight time for Sunday was 9:45 am, but Bryant had it rescheduled to 9am because he wanted to see another team play before his daughter's game at a youth basketball tournament. “That particular day, for Sunday, I actually changed the time the night before, probably around 6pm or 7pm,” Brady said. “Because Kobe had decided he wanted to go to watch another team play before his game. “So it was supposed to be a 9:45am departure, but the night before it was changed to a 9am departure.”
Vanessa Bryant, wife of the late Kobe Bryant, is urging Congress to pass a new helicopter safety bill named for her husband and daughter who were killed in a crash earlier this year. "I strongly urge that the United States Congress pass a federal law that would improve the safety of helicopters operating in this country," she said in statement. "I believe there is a chance that Kobe and Gianna would still be alive today if their helicopter had been equipped with the safety equipment required by this pending federal legislation."
The pilot of the helicopter that crashed in thick fog, killing Kobe Bryant and seven other passengers, reported he was climbing when he actually was descending, federal investigators said in documents released Wednesday. Ara Zobayan radioed to air traffic controllers that he was climbing to 4,000 feet to get above clouds on Jan. 26 when, in fact, the helicopter was plunging toward a hillside where it crashed northwest of Los Angeles.
The report by the National Transportation Safety Board said Zobayan may have "misperceived" the angles at which he was descending and banking, which can happen when a pilot becomes disoriented in low visibility. "Calculated apparent angles at this time show that the pilot could have misperceived both pitch and roll angles," one report stated. "During the final descent the pilot, responding to (air traffic control), stated that they were climbing to four thousand."
Experts said shortly after the crash that the path of the flight indicated Zobayan was disoriented. The 1,700 pages of reports do not offer a conclusion of what caused the crash but compile factual reports. A final report on the cause is due later.
During his two seasons as Bryant’s teammate, Black and Bryant became close. As luck would have it, an injury during his 2019-20 season in Israel sent him back to Los Angeles earlier than normal and he was able to see Bryant one final time just a week before the helicopter accident. It was the first time the two had seen each other since their days as teammates. And Black, unaware of what fate lied ahead, made sure to make the encounter count. “I actually got a chance to thank him for what he meant for my life,” Black said. “And he just kept saying, ‘I’m proud of you.’ So it rocked me to my core when I heard about his passing.”
Huntsman said Villanueva had declined to provide the records and requested that the subpoena item be placed on the agenda for the commission’s May 21 meeting. Villanueva could not be reached for comment Friday. The request came less than a week after Vanessa Bryant filed a claim against the Sheriff’s Department alleging that it failed to “adequately investigate the extent of the deputies misconduct.”
Autopsy reports were released Friday by the Los Angeles County coroner's office. The causes of death for Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, pilot Ara Zobayan and the others have been ruled blunt trauma.
So, here's how it breaks down. Island Express says in its answer, "Kobe Bryant and GB [Gigi] had actual knowledge of all of the circumstances, particular dangers, and an appreciation of the risks involved and the magnitude thereof, and proceeded to encounter a known risk, and voluntarily assumed the risk of the accident, injury ... thereby barring or reducing [Vanessa's] claim for damages." Island Express never explains how a 13-year-old girl appreciates such risks, and while we're on the subject, did anyone know helicopters are so dangerous that passengers who dare to board do so at their own peril? If that's the case, how come Island Express didn't have a big sign in front of the helicopter?
We had to read this legal doc several times, because it was so shocking ... Island Express -- the company that owned the helicopter that sent 8 innocent passengers to their death -- claims Kobe AND 13-YEAR-OLD GIGI knew flying could result in an accident and therefore, Vanessa Bryant has no case. It's true ... Island Express filed an answer to Vanessa's wrongful death lawsuit and, they threw in every argument in the book, including Act of God.
The brother of the pilot in the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others argued in a court filing that the former Lakers star knew the risks of flying and his surviving family members aren’t entitled to damages from the pilot’s estate.
The answer to the complaint filed by Berge Zobayan in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday disputed the lawsuit’s claims. “Any injuries or damages to plaintiffs and/or their decedent were directly caused in full or in part by the negligence or fault of plaintiffs and/or their decedent, including their knowing and voluntary encounter with the risks involved, and that this negligence was a substantial factor in causing their purported damages, for which this answering defendant bears no responsibility,” the answer said.
Vanessa Bryant filed a legal claim on Friday in regard to a collection of unauthorized photographs taken by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials that show the aftermath of the Jan. 26 helicopter crash that killed her husband, NBA legend Kobe Bryant, their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others.
The claim, exclusively obtained by PEOPLE, seeks damages for emotional distress and mental anguish following the revelation that eight L.A. County Sheriff’s Department deputies took graphic photographs of the victims and shared them with unauthorized people. This happened despite Vanessa personally speaking to Sheriff Alex Villanueva on the morning of the crash to request the site be secured for privacy.
A California lawmaker wants to make it a crime for law enforcement officers and other personnel to take unauthorized photos at crime scenes and crash sites. The proposal by Assemblyman Mike A. Gipson, Assembly Bill 2655, comes about two months after claims surfaced that some Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies shared graphic images from the wreckage of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others in Calabasas.
Shaq on Kobe Bryant and the reminder that nothing is guaranteed: “The reminder is.. that it makes me get into wish mode… Cuz listen, we respected each other. We’re friends. We’re not call everyday friends, but I wish that I had talk to him more, I wish I could’ve said ‘hey, how you doing’, I wish I could’ve said ‘hey, you know the Hall of Fame thing is coming up. You know you gonna be on that list’”
Family members of four of the eight passengers killed in a helicopter crash with Kobe Bryant and his daughter have joined the NBA star’s widow in filing wrongful death lawsuits against the companies that owned and operated the aircraft. The suits on behalf of three members of one family, and a woman who helped coach Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter in basketball, were filed electronically Sunday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The pair of lawsuits comes about two months after Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, the mother of Gianna, also sued Island Express Helicopters Inc., which operated the Sikorsky, and its owner, Island Express Holding Corp.
Family members of four of the eight passengers killed in a helicopter crash with Kobe Bryant and his daughter have joined the NBA star’s widow in filing wrongful death lawsuits against the companies that owned and operated the aircraft. The suits on behalf of three members of one family, and a woman who helped coach Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter in basketball, were filed electronically Sunday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The pair of lawsuits comes about two months after Bryant’s widow, Vanessa, the mother of Gianna, also sued Island Express Helicopters Inc., which operated the Sikorsky, and its owner, Island Express Holding Corp.
The families of four of the victims who perished in the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, have filed wrongful death lawsuits themselves -- this after Vanessa Bryant has already gone after the chopper company in court. The surviving members of the Altobelli family and Mauser family -- the remaining two Altobelli children and Christina Mauser's husband, her son and 2 daughters, respectively -- claim the Island Express's negligence was reason for the death of their loved ones.
The families of four of the victims who perished in the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, have filed wrongful death lawsuits themselves -- this after Vanessa Bryant has already gone after the chopper company in court. The surviving members of the Altobelli family and Mauser family -- the remaining two Altobelli children and Christina Mauser's husband, her son and 2 daughters, respectively -- claim the Island Express's negligence was reason for the death of their loved ones.
Gasol paused and collected his thoughts, then recalled the moment the Lakers were on the podium inside Staples Center receiving the championship trophy. He talked about how Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, were there on the stage celebrating the title, how Lakers owner Jerry Buss, NBA Commissioner David Stern, Lakers assistant coach Frank Hamblen and ESPN’s Stuart Scott were also there on that magical night. Gasol sighed, then slowly remarked that they had all died. “All those people … now 10 years later they are not here with us,” Gasol said during an interview with The Times. “Obviously Kobe and Gigi, which breaks my heart every time I think about it, and seeing Vanessa and the kids. It was a lot. That’s why I got emotional and I think about it. I still do.”
Former Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom opened up about a number of topics during an appearance on REVOLT TV's Drink Champs: Happy Hour airing Thursday. One of those was Kobe Bryant's death, along with eight others, in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26. "That s--t was so shocking," he said. "That s--t took the breath out of me, man. That s--t f--ked me up for real."
Kobe Bryant's daughters have just been appointed new guardians to represent their interests in their father's trust ... TMZ Sports has learned. According to new legal docs ... Erika Williams has been appointed guardian ad litem for Natalia and Bianka Bryant, and James Summers is repping for Kobe's youngest daughter, Capri.
Kobe Bryant's daughters have just been appointed new guardians to represent their interests in their father's trust ... TMZ Sports has learned. According to new legal docs ... Erika Williams has been appointed guardian ad litem for Natalia and Bianka Bryant, and James Summers is repping for Kobe's youngest daughter, Capri.
Zach Lowe wondered how World Peace coped with Bryant's death. He recalled being on a plane to Europe with his wife on Feb. 26. The in-flight movie ended with someone's death. Suddenly, he was overcome with tears. "I couldn't control my crying because I've been suppressing it," World Peace said. "It comes in waves. On the plane, I'm like, 'What am I crying for?' It's something you don't cope with. I'm not trying to make it better. I don't want it to get better. Time heals all wounds."
The family of Kobe Bryant visited a mural honoring the late NBA icon and his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna. The mural in Los Angeles depicts Bryant kissing Gianna on the head, with a halo hovering over them. Bryant and Gianna were among the nine people killed in a Jan. 26 helicopter crash in Calabasas, Calif. On Sunday, Bryant’s eldest daughter, 17-year-old Natalia, posed for a photo in front of the mural.
In the days following Kobe Bryant’s tragic death in a helicopter crash, fans all over the world mourned the NBA all-star’s death. And some were also motivated to protect their own families if something terrible happened to them. The volume of life insurance application requests and submissions spiked in the days after the 41-year-old’s death on Jan. 26, 2020, according to True Blue Life Insurance, an online aggregator and comparison site for life insurance.
Bryant’s death shook Tatum. When the news broke, he was spending time with his dad, Justin Tatum, in New Orleans before the Celtics’ team bus was scheduled to leave for the arena. “We were in our jolly moment, sitting there munching on our Popeyes sandwiches, talking about things back home,” Tatum’s father recalled. Then Jayson checked his phone notifications and his jaw dropped. No words were spoken for the rest of their meal or walk home to the hotel. “I kind of got sick to my stomach. I couldn’t believe it,” Tatum said. “It didn’t seem real at the time. It still doesn’t seem real.”
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker has paid tribute to his idol, Kobe Bryant, with a tattoo. The tattoo which Booker showed on his Instagram Tuesday, simply says "Be Legendary" in cursive writing on one of his forearms. But it has a story behind it. Bryant wrote those words on a shoe of his that he gave to Booker after playing in a game against the Suns in 2016, Bryant's final year in the NBA. Booker had Bryant's writing on the shoe used for his tattoo.
The written complaint came in three days after the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others: At the Baja California Bar and Grill in Norwalk, a young Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy was showing gruesome photos taken at the scene of the tragedy. “He was working the day the helicopter went down and took pictures of the crash site and bodies,” the author wrote.
After The Times disclosed last week that the deputies shared the photos, Villanueva said he would launch an investigation. But now there are mounting demands for an independent inquiry into the matter, the latest in a series of scandals to afflict the nation’s largest sheriff’s department in recent years. Patti Giggans, chair of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission, said she expects Villanueva to find out what happened in a timely way, but that the destruction of photos “looks like a cover-up of misconduct.” She added, “I’m hoping that that’s not the case.”
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva said eight deputies allegedly took or shared graphic photos of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash scene, but he ordered them deleted. "That was my No. 1 priority, was to make sure those photos no longer exist," Villanueva told NBC News for a story Monday. "We identified the deputies involved, they came to the station on their own and had admitted they had taken them and they had deleted them. And we're content that those involved did that.''
The widow of basketball star Kobe Bryant is "absolutely devastated" by allegations that deputies shared graphic photos of the helicopter crash scene where Bryant, their 13-year-old daughter and seven others were killed, her lawyer said in a statement Saturday. The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday that a public safety source with knowledge of the events had seen one of the photos on the phone of another official in a setting that was not related to the investigation of the crash. He said the photos showed the scene and victims' remains. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the allegations.
Vanessa Bryant's lawyer, Gary Robb, said that she went to the sheriff's office on Jan. 26, the day of the crash, "and requested that the area be designated a no-fly zone and protected from photographers." "This was of critical importance to her as she desired to protect the dignity of all the victims, and their families. At that time, Sheriff Alex Villanueva assured us all measures would be put in place to protect the families' privacy, and it is our understanding that he has worked hard to honor those requests," Robb said.
Some L.A. County Sheriff's Deputies shared photos of the scene where Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gigi, and 7 others lost their lives ... and the photos included remains from the gruesome aftermath ... TMZ has confirmed. It's not clear who took the photos, but it was being talked about by first responders just 2 days after the crash, this according to the L.A. Times.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ, multiple L.A. County Sheriff's deputies who responded to the crash scene took photos that included remains. We're told one of the deputies -- a trainee -- took photos and at some point went to a bar and, as one source put it, "He tried to impress a girl by showing her the photos." We're told the bartender overheard the conversation and filed an online complaint with the Sheriff's Dept. We're also told the cell phone photos were passed around at the Lost Hills Sheriff's substation -- the first responders to the crash. Sources say deputies from other substations around L.A. County also took cell phone photos.
Back in Los Angeles for the first time since the tragedy, Barton reflected Friday on the moment he found out his favorite player had died and how he’s dealt with the news over the past month. “It’s hard to process,” Barton said at Friday’s shootaround at Staples Center, hours before the Nuggets faced the Clippers. “It’s still a little fresh. Anytime you lose somebody like that, so sudden, you just try to remember him. I try to watch highlights of him and play hard in his honor every night.”
As a kid, Barton collected the SLAM magazine covers featuring Bryant’s mug. To face off against him before he retired in 2016 meant everything to Barton. “Every time he guarded me, it was always something I looked forward to and was special,” Barton said.
The rush to monetize the death of Kobe Bryant started in the hours after the helicopter carrying the retired Lakers star, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others slammed into a hillside in Calabasas on a foggy morning last month. As first responders picked through the wreckage, anonymous speculators registered scores of web domains connected to the tragedy. The address lovekobebryant.com, created about three hours after the crash, went on sale for a buy-now price of $99,999. Among the scores of the site registrations that followed within an hour or two were kobebryanthelicopter.com ($50,000), kobebryanthalloffame.com ($20,000) and kobedead.com ($5,000).
In the month since Bryant’s death, the demand for items connected to him hasn’t abated. Beyond the web domains and trademark registrations, T-shirts and jerseys are for sale. They’re joined by newspapers, posters, books, paintings, magazines, trading cards, hats, autographed basketballs, hoodies, jars of Nutella with Bryant’s picture and limited-edition Beanie Babies from 1999 with his original No. 8 embroidered on the back.
Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies shared graphic photos of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight others, according to two public safety sources with knowledge of the events. After multiple inquiries by The Times, the Sheriff’s Department said Thursday that the “matter is being looked into.”
One of the sources told The Times that the sharing of photos of the crash scene and the victims’ remains was the topic of a discussion among first responders two days after the crash. The source said he saw one of the photos on the phone of another official, in a setting that had nothing to do with the investigation of the crash. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter.
Sometimes, his players Google things. When Kobe Bryant died, “a sad moment," Wallace said. “Some of the guys were on their little TVs -- call them phones -- and they saw the [Nike] commercial I did some years back. ‘Oh, Coach, I didn’t know you were in a commercial with Kobe.’ “ “I knew he was an NBA champion," said Joaquin Davis, a senior forward who has signed a letter of intent to play Division I football at North Carolina Central. “Already knew that off the rip. He was a legend at UNC, so I already knew that. I also knew that he got known for a lot of techs ...”
Sharapova said she knew it was time to retire as she flew home to Los Angeles from Australia. Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 made it even clearer. “We were supposed to see each other like three days after the crash,” said Sharapova, who explained that Bryant had been an “incredible sounding board” throughout her career.
