Vanessa Bryant has gotten nearly $30m from L.A. County following the lawsuit she filed after her husband and former basketball star, Kobe Bryant, died in a helicopter crash in 2020.
Asides from her initial $15 million win last year, she has gotten another $13 million from L.A county. In total, she has gotten $28.8 million in settlement.
Her lawyer told TMZ that this resolves both Vanessa’s original complaint and subsequent award, as well as any potential future claims from her surviving daughters.
Unclear when, but it seems Vanessa amended her initial lawsuit to add 20-year-old Natalia, 6-year-old Bianka and 3-year-old Capri as would-be petitioners down the road. Namely, if the alleged photo-sharing of their father and sister’s remains from the helicopter crash in 2020 caused them increasing stress over the years, they could pick the right time and sue.
Vanessa’s lawyer, Luis Li said;
“Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct.
“She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect. We hope her victory at trial and this settlement will put an end to this practice.”
Vanessa had earlier taken the stand with an emotional testimony about how the thought of photos of remains of Kobe and their daughter, Gianna Bryant, which got leaked publicly tortured her.
She was initially awarded $16m, but a million got knocked down afterward due to a clerical error. Vanessa and her team had previously said she’d be donating the money from this to her Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, and in light of this, there’s more to go around.
Kobe and Gianna were among 9 people who died in the helicopter crash that day.
