Vanessa Bryant has taken the stand in her lawsuit against Los Angeles County regarding graphic photos taken and shared by officers from the helicopter crash site that killed Kobe Bryant and the couple’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant.
Vanessa took the witness stand on Friday and emotionally recalled the moment she found graphic photos from the scene of the accident — including photos of Kobe and Gianna — were leaked. She said she was breastfeeding her 7-month-old daughter, Capri, at home when she was informed of a Los Angeles Times report that sheriff’s representatives were sharing the photos.
Vanessa said (via CNN), “I remember not wanting to react because the girls were in the room.” “I said, ‘I can’t do this.’ … and I ran out of the house and I ran to the side of the house so the girls couldn’t see me. I wanted to run… down the block and scream. I can’t escape my body. I can’t do Joe I feel like avoid him.”
Vanessa also shared that, to this day, she experiences panic attacks and anxiety at the prospect of seeing photos from the devastating 2020 helicopter crash.
In one of the more disturbing details, Vanessa said she had to delete the comments from her Instagram feed after the LA Times story was published. According to his lawyer who shared the screen shot, one of the comments read, “Ima leaked Kobe’s body.” The comment was accompanied by helicopter and fire emoji.
“I want to remember my husband and my daughter the way they were,” Vanessa testified (via The Washington Post) through tears. “I never want to see these photos shared or seen.”
Also during her testimony, Vanessa recounts her conversation with Sheriff Alex Villanueva when he reported her tragic accident.
“I’m sorry Mrs. Bryant. Can I do something for you?” Vanessa asked, remembering the sheriff. She replied, “If you can’t get my kids back, please secure the area. I worry about the paparazzi.”
Vanessa claimed that Villanueva assured her that he would honor her request but he never actually got up to do so. He then said that he urged her to handle the request immediately. Vanessa testified that Villanueva finally stepped out of the room and informed her that she had secured a temporary flight ban over the area through the Federal Aviation Administration.
When reached for comment, Vanessa’s attorney, Louis Lee, told ET: “Thank you for your interest. She will not comment at this time.”
In May 2020, Vanessa filed a claim against the LA County Sheriff’s Department for sharing private photos of the January 26, 2020 crash scene in Calabasas, California, which killed nine people, including Kobe and Gianna. The following September, she filed a lawsuit seeking unspecified damages including punitive damages for negligence, invasion of privacy as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit accuses eight sheriff’s deputies of taking cell phone photographs of the bodies of their late husband and late daughter for their personal use.
“January 26, 2020 was and always will be the worst day of Vanessa Bryant’s life,” Vanessa’s attorney, Louis Lee, told the 10-member jury in her opening remarks last week. “County staff took advantage of the accident. They took and shared photos of Kobe and Gianna as souvenirs. … They put salt in an unbearable wound.”
Lee said the photos were taken as “visual gossip” and had no official purpose, only seen “for laughs”.
“They were shared by deputies playing video games,” Lee said. “They were shared over and over again with people who had no reason to receive them.”
In her September 2020 filing, Vanessa said she learned of the photos in February through a Los Angeles Times report and privately reached out to the sheriff’s department to ask about the scope of the misconduct and whether she “Should brace for photos of your loved one” remain to surface on one’s Internet.” Documents said she was later sent a letter saying the department was “in helping her with her questions.” was unable”.
“The abusive actions of the Sheriff’s Department have caused Mrs. Bryant serious emotional distress and exacerbated the trauma of losing Kobe and Gianna,” the documents read. “Ms. Bryant feels sick at the thought of strangers staring at images of her dead husband and child, and she lives in fear that she or her children will one day encounter terrifying images of their loved ones online.”
In her opening remarks last week, LA County attorney Mira Hashmal stressed that the county did not violate the Bryant family’s constitutional rights by publicly spreading unauthorized photos.
“They’re not online. They’re not in the media. They’ve never been seen by the plaintiffs themselves,” she said, “that’s not an accident. It’s a function of how diligent [department leaders] were.