Vanessa Laine Bryant
Vanessa Laine Bryant
Vanessa Laine Bryant (born May 5, 1982 as Vanessa Cornejo Urbieta Laine) is the wife of the late NBA player Kobe Bryant.
Personal Life
Vanessa and Kobe Bryant on the day they met, 11/27/99
Vanessa and her late husband Kobe Bryant got married in 2001. The NBA player once confessed that he met his wife in 1999. He was 21 years old at the time, and she was 17. According to E! True Hollywood Story, Kobe proposed to her six months after they met, and they did not sign a prenuptial agreement.[1]
Their marriage survived a sexual assault lawsuit.
Kobe was accused of raping a 19-year-old hotel worker in 2004.
However, he said that the sexual encounter was consensual, and apologized for cheating on his wife.
Sexual assault charges were filed against the basketball player in September 2004, but the case was dropped three weeks after it was filed because the woman didn’t want to proceed.[1]
Vanessa filed for divorce from Kobe in 2011.
She cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split, but in 2013, the couple announced that they had called off their divorce, and they remained married up until his death.[1]
Vanessa and Kobe Bryant have four children together and all four are girls.
Natalia Diamante was born in January 2003, Gianna Maria-Onore, who was in the helicopter with Kobe and died, was born in May 2006, Bianka Bella was born in December 2016, and Capri Kobe was born in June 2019.
At the time of his retirement in 2015, she released a statement saying, “I’m so excited to see what God has in store for us as a family now that one chapter is closing and new ones are opening”.[1]
Passing of Kobe and Gianna Bryant
Bryant lost her husband Kobe and daughter Gianna in the January 26, 2020 helicopter crash.[1]
On January 29, 2020, broke her silence on the death of her husband and their daughter in a lengthy heartbreaking Instagram post, mourning her “adoring husband Hobe - the amazing father of our children,” and “my beautiful, sweet Gianna - a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter.“[1]"There aren't enough words to describe our pain right now," she wrote on Instagram. "I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved.""I'm not sure what our lives hold beyond today, and it's impossible to imagine life without them," she said. "But we wake up each day, trying to keep pushing because Kobe, and our baby girl, Gigi, are shining on us to light the way."[5] She also changed her Instagram profile picture to one of her husband and Gianna hugging.[4]
On February 5, 2020, uploaded a photo of her husband in which she described him as her best friend and "the best daddy."
"Miss you so much," she wrote in the post accompanied by a series of hashtags.
She added: "Miss you saying, 'Bonjourno principessa/reina.'" In another post, she shared a clip of Kobe Bryant on "Extra." When asked in the clip who his best friend is, he responds: "My wife."[4]
That day she also shared a photo from Gianna’s jersey retirement ceremony at Harbor Day School in Newport Beach. In the photo, which was taken from the school’s gym, a bouquet of heart-shaped balloons can be seen placed alongside a table with a red and pink flower arrangement that reads “Gianna.” The display also included a red floral arrangment of the number 2, which Gianna wore on the back of her Mamba Sports Academy basketball jersey. “My Gianna,” Vanessa began. “God I miss you. I’ve been so lucky to have woken up to see your gorgeous face and amazing smile for 13 years. Wish it would’ve been until my last breath.” “Mommy loves you to the moon and back. Infinity plus 1,” Vanessa continued, adding the hashtags “#2 #Mambacita #GigiBryant.”[6]
Lawsuit Against Island Express Helicopters
In a breaking news report by TMZ Sports on the day of Bryant’s public memorial, it was announced that Vanessa Bryant had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Island Express Helicopters, claiming the company and the helicopter pilot, Ara George Zobayan, were reckless.
Attorneys for Vanessa Bryant filed the lawsuit hours before the public memorial service for Bryant and Gianna was set to begin, at the Staples Center.[18]
Per TMZ Sports, the lawsuit claims a number of things: that Zobayan was driving 180 miles an hour at a steep decline in “heavy fog”; that Zobayan had violated the visual rule minimums in the past and been cited for it; and that the helicopter was not safe, though it did not stipulate why the helicopter was not safe.[18]
The lawsuit reads in part: “Defendant Island Express Helicopters’ breach of its duty and negligence caused the injuries and damages complained of herein and Plaintiffs’ deceased, Kobe Bryant, was killed as a direct result of the negligent conduct of Zobayan for which Defendant Island Express Helicopters is vicariously liable in all respects.”[18]
Island Express Helicopters has not yet responded to the lawsuit filed against the helicopter operator.
However, it has issued two statements in the past, in connection to the helicopter crash.
On its website, Island Express responded to the tragic helicopter accident by releasing two statements.
The first clarified a day later that the accident had, in fact, happened:
One of our helicopters, N72EX, Sikorsky S76, was involved in an accident on Sunday, January 26th in the Calabasas area of LA County.
We are deeply saddened by this tragedy.
Our top priority is providing assistance to the families of the passengers and the pilot.
We hope that you will respect their privacy at this extremely difficult time.
The pilot, Ara Zobayan, was our chief pilot.
Ara has been with the company for over 10 years and has over 8,000 flight hours.
We are working closely with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to investigate the cause of the accident and we are grateful to the first responders and local authorities for their response to this unimaginable accident.[18]
The second statement was released on January 30, 2020, and confirmed that Island Express had suspended all activity for the immediate future:
All services (regular and charter) were immediately suspended following the tragic accident on Sunday, January 26.
The shock of the accident affected all staff, and management decided that service would be suspended until such time as it was deemed appropriate for staff and customers.[18]
In the lawsuit acquired by TMZ Sports, Bryant is seeking “punitive damages” for the wrongful deaths of the passengers on board the helicopter, including her husband and daughter.
However, the lawsuit doesn’t specify a monetary figure.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the complaint has 27 counts, and seeks general damages, economic damages, punitive damages and more.[18]