Vanessa Bryant Agrees To $28.85 Million Settlement Over Shared Photos Of Helicopter Crash
Vanessa Bryant is closer to ending a terrible chapter in her life. The wife of NBA star Kobe Bryant will finally agree to a $28.85 million settlement with Los Angeles County.
The decision will end a lawsuit over shared photos of the helicopter crash that claimed the lives of her husband and daughter in 2020.
The settlement resolves the lawsuit in which Bryant accused the Sheriff’s Department of sharing the crash images on nearly 30 devices.
For Bryant, first responders allegedly took pictures of the human remains as “souvenirs.”
During her testimony at trial, the late player’s wife said law enforcement officers shared the photos, including those of their daughter, “for no reason other than morbid gossip.”
“I live in fear of my daughters being on social media and these popping up,” she told the court.
Bryant claims the distribution of the images bordered on negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy.
According to legal documents accessed by the media, law enforcement took photos at the accident scene in September 2020. They then shared them on at least 28 devices owned by members of the Sheriff’s Department.
At least a dozen county firefighters also possessed close-up images.
“Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct,” Vanessa Bryant’s attorney, Luis Li, stated Tuesday.
“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.”
