Vanessa Bryant continues to fight for Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant. Image Source: US Magazine 

Vanessa Bryant continues to fight for Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant.

Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, delivered emotional testimony on Friday during a trial of her lawsuit against Los Angeles County and spoke about her experience since her husband, the legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant, and daughter Gianna Bryant, passed away in a helicopter crash.

In her testimony, Vanessa Bryant said that she felt helpless and heartbroken after she learned that the members of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department and other emergency personnel had allegedly shared the graphic pictures of the accident that took place in 2020. She said that she has been living in fear of the pictures being shared or popping up on social media since she learned about the information the authorities had shared the graphic pictures of the accident.

Vanessa said to the jury that she wants to remember Kobe and her 13-year-old daughter Gianna the way they were, and those graphic pictures are the last thing she would want to see as she has three little girls to take care of. Vanessa shared Capri, Bianka, and Natalia, along with Giana, with Kobe Bryant.

She recalled and related during her testimony that she urged Sheriff Alex Villanueva to protect the Calabasas' crash site from being stormed by paparazzi when she visited the scene of the accident. He did leave the room but later came back to say that he had obtained a temporary flight restriction over the area through the Federal Aviation Administration. Three days later, however, the images were disseminated, and Vanessa noted that she trusted the authorities to exercise caution and refrain from doing so. She also voiced her annoyance with the sheriff's office and the fire department for failing to notify her that the images had been shared.

Vanessa Bryant said that she felt helpless and heartbroken after she learned the graphic pictures of Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant were being shared. Image Source: The Independent

Vanessa revealed that she was breastfeeding her child when she learned of the Los Angeles Times report about the Sheriff's deputies sharing the graphic photos from the accident. She added that she chose not to react at the time because her daughters were present in the room and she did not want to panic. But she admitted that she did run to the side of the house where the daughters couldn't see her as she wanted to run and scream and close everything off. Vanessa recalled feeling as though she couldn't leave her body or her feelings.

During her testimony, Vanessa Bryant said that even today she experiences panic and anxiety attacks over the fact that there is a possibility that those pictures would pop up on social media. She also revealed that she decided to disable the comment section on her social media because the comments were horrifying and one of them was that they were going to share a picture of Kobe’s body. Vanessa’s attorney showcased to the court a screenshot of the comment, which was accompanied by helicopter and fire emojis.

Kobe Bryant’s body was recovered on the day of the crash, but Gianna’s body was recovered the day later in a ravine. The grieving wife and mother accused the emergency personnel who allegedly not only clicked the pictures of the body but also shared them and described that they took advantage of the situation and that her father was not there to protect her. Kobe’s body was at the morgue.

Vanessa Bryant did not leave her house for weeks, opting to take one day at a time following the heartbreaking and unfortunate accident. On February 24, at a memorial ceremony for the accident victims held at the Staples Center, she made her first public appearance. The date was selected because Kobe wore No. 24 in the later years of his career, and Gianna wore No. 2 on her basketball uniform. She said that after 2/24, she would finally be able to begin the mourning process.

Kobe and Gianna Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash accident in 2020. Image Source: LA Times 

The grieving mother and wife said that although she has tried to be strong and mentally tough for the girls, she has experienced her share of depression, anxiety, and panic attacks, which were caused after she started to see the graphic pictures of them. Chris Chester, who lost his wife Sarah and 13-year-old daughter Payton in the accident, decided to move forward to sue the county with Vanessa and shared that he has suffered from anxiety and panic attacks too just by the thought of graphic images being circulated online.

On asking why she is moving forward with the lawsuit, Vanessa Bryant said that she is willing to go through hell and back to get justice for her husband and daughter. She said that she prayed for them every night and described Gianna as the one with the kindest heart and the sunshine of her life and added that she was funny, competitive, and thoughtful.

Talking about Kobe, Vanessa said that for the world he was a beloved icon and well-known basketball player, but at home, he was just Kobe, a father, and mentioned that he was aware that he did not rule the household and that he was happy to take care of the business on the court and let her take care of the house. Vanessa said that Kobe was her best friend and he would always be her best friend.

In May 2020, Vanessa filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for disclosing personal images of the Calabasas, California, collision site from January 26, 2020, which claimed the lives of nine individuals, including Kobe and Gianna. In September of the following year, she filed a case alleging carelessness, breach of privacy, and intentional infliction of mental anguish. She also requested unspecified sanctions, including punitive damages. In the lawsuit, eight sheriff's deputies are accused of taking pictures of her late husband and daughter's bodies on their iPhones for their use.

Vanessa Bryant said she is willing to go through hell and back to get justice for her husband and daughter. Image Source: USA Today

Vanessa Bryant’s lawyer, Luis Li, informed the 10-member jury in his opening statement that several workers exploited the mishap, snapped photographs of them as mementos, and shared them. The images, according to Luis, were routinely sent to persons who had no business receiving them and were distributed as a topic of gossip with no discernible purpose.

Last Monday, L.A. Government attorney Mira Hashmall argued that the county did not infringe on the Bryant family's constitutional rights by making unlawful pictures widely available. The images, according to Mira, are not accessible online or in the media, and the plaintiffs themselves have never even seen them. She continued by saying that was no accident and added that it depends on how conscientious the department executives were.