Kobe Bryant’s Widow, Vanessa Bryant, Wins $16 Million Lawsuit Over Helicopter Crash Photos

Due to images of Kobe’s body at the 2020 helicopter accident site, Los Angeles County has agreed to pay Kobe Bryant’s widow $16 million. Vanessa Bryant complained that her privacy had been violated when Deputies and Firefighters snapped the pictures and distributed them.

All four occupants of Kobe and Gianna’s wrecked chopper were killed, and a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department unit is suspected of photographing the wreckage.

Vanessa Bryant claimed in his lawsuit that the pictures were taken improperly and infringed on his family’s privacy during a very trying time.

One month after losing her husband and kid, she testified with tears in her eyes about how the discovery of the images only exacerbated her still-fresh grief and how she now experiences panic attacks when she thinks they might be out there.

She said, “I live in fear every day of being on social media and things cropping up. “I constantly worry about my girls using social media and these things appearing.”

Along with co-plaintiff Chris Chester, whose wife and children also perished in the collision, she received a $15 million settlement.

Jerry Jackson, Chester’s attorney, said, “We’re grateful for a jury and a judge who gave us a fair trial.”

Although Chester’s defense lawyers gave jurors guidelines that may have meant millions of dollars for each plaintiff, Bryant’s attorneys did not present the jury with a suggested monetary number for their client.

She and her attorney on Wednesday declined to comment outside of the courthouse. Her face was still smeared with tears as she passed by reporters and media cameras in the SUV.

In Calabasas, west of Los Angeles, on January 26, 2020, a helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, Gianna, and seven other passengers crashed into the hills.

Source: wsj.com