A Los Angeles jury awarded Vanessa Bryant $16 million in damages when photographs of the helicopter crash involving her husband, Kobe Bryant, and their daughter, Gianna, in 2020 were made public.
On August 24, the jury rendered their verdict, finding that the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Fire Department did release graphic photos from the scene of the incident, inflicting emotional distress and invading the privacy of the victims’ families.
Bryant’s co-plaintiff, Chris Chester, has also been awarded $15 million, bringing the total award to $31 million. In January 2020 in Los Angeles, California, Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, and six other Lakers family members perished in a horrible helicopter crash.
Sarah, Chester’s wife, and Payton, the couple’s daughter, were also murdered in the tragedy. The trial began on August 10, 2022, and has already revealed distressing details regarding the aftermath of the helicopter crash.
Vanessa and Chris filed a claim for mental and emotional anguish against the aforementioned agencies. According to the complaint, the photographs of the deceased were shared publicly on 28 Sheriff’s Department-owned devices.
Vanessa Bryant is not a billionaire yet
Vanessa, born on 5 May 1982, is a prominent philanthropist. She co-founded the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Foundation in 2007 with the purpose of awarding scholarships to minority college students worldwide.
Vanessa Bryant’s current estimated net worth is $600 million, the majority of which was accumulated by her deceased basketball superstar husband Kobe Bryant.
Vanessa, then 17 years old, met Kobe, then 21 years old, while working as a background dancer for a music video in the same studio where Kobe was recording his debut album. By six months of meeting, they had begun dating and were engaged.
Kobe and Vanessa have married in St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in California in April 2001. They had four small daughters who died: Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, Natalia Diamante Bryant, Capri Kobe Bryant, and Bianka Bella Bryant.
Vanessa Bryant stated that she experienced panic attacks after learning that photographs of Kobe and Gianna’s accident had been distributed publicly by officials at the scene.
During her testimony last week, the forty-year-old woman recalled how she felt at home when she read an article in the Los Angeles Times stating that county employees had distributed photographs from the accident scene.
“I hurriedly exited the residence and scurried around the back so the girls could not see me. I felt the want to shout and dash down the street.
She added that, upon hearing the news, she felt “devastated, wounded, and duped.”
“Never again do I wish to view these photographs. I wish to recall my spouse and children as they were in the past.”
In November 2021, Vanessa Bryant rejected a $2.5 million emotional distress settlement with the county and chose to sue the county departments for a larger reward.
The two-week emotional trial concluded on Mamba Day, which celebrates the late Lakers legend who wore jersey numbers 24 and 8.
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