Kobe Bryant’s widow awarded US$16 million in trial over crash photos
- LA county staff invaded Vanessa Bryant’s privacy by sharing images of NBA star and his daughter’s remains after a fatal helicopter crash, jury found
- The basketballer’s spouse says she ‘lives in fear every day’ of seeing the photos pop up on social media and being seen by her other children
A federal jury found on Wednesday that Los Angeles County must pay Kobe Bryant’s widow US$16 million over photos of the NBA star’s body at the site of the 2020 helicopter crash site that killed him.
The nine jurors who returned the unanimous verdict agreed with Vanessa Bryant and her lawyers that deputies and firefighters taking and sharing photos of the remains of Kobe Bryant and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna invaded her privacy and brought her emotional distress.
The pictures were shared mostly between employees of the LA County sheriff’s and fire services including by some who were playing video games and attending an awards banquet. They were also seen by some of their spouses and in one case by a bartender at a bar where a deputy was drinking.
Vanessa Bryant tearfully testified during the 11-day trial that news of the photos compounded her still-raw grief a month after losing her husband and daughter, and that she still has panic attacks at the thought that they might still be out there.
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Basketball legend Kobe Bryant killed in helicopter crash
“I live in fear every day of being on social media and these popping up,” she testified. “I live in fear of my daughters being on social media and these popping up.”