Vanessa Bryant.Photo: John Salangsang/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Vanessa Bryantsays she’s been in a “constant cycle of distress” after learning emergency personnel shared “improper” photographs of her husbandKobe and daughter Gianna Bryant’sfatal 2020 helicopter crashsite, according to new court documents.
Bryant, 39, is seeking damages for emotional distress and mental anguish in relation to the alleged image leak.
“Having lived in the public eye for 20 years and knowing the interest people have in my husband and family, I was extremely fearful that people would want to take photographs and footage of the crash site,” she said in her declaration. “I have always been protective of my family’s privacy, especially my children, and it was important to me to protect their privacy and dignity.”
Bryant said the misconduct “has caused me tremendous pain and distress. It infuriates me that the people I trusted to protect the dignity of my husband and daughter abused their positions to obtain souvenirs of their deaths, as though possessing pictures of their remains somehow makes them special.”
“I feel sick at the thought that deputies and firefighters have gawked at photos of my husband’s and child’s bodies without any reason,” she added. “I also feel extreme sadness and anger knowing that photos of my husband’s and daughter’s bodies were laughed about while shown at a bar and an awards banquet. Given how many people had the photos, I am confident these were not the only times the photos were shown off.”
“These deputies and firefighters took the worst thing that has ever happened to me — the worst thing that could happen to any mother or spouse — and made it worse. I will never be able to shake the anguish from knowing that the officials who are supposed to keep us safe treated Kobe and Gianna with such callous disrespect,” Bryant concluded in the declaration. “For the rest of my life, one of two things will happen: either close-up photos of my husband’s and daughter’s bodies will go viral online, or I will continue to live in fear of that happening.”
Attorneys for Bryant did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment on Bryant’s declaration. Skip Miller, partner at the Miller Barondess law firm and outside counsel for L.A. County, told PEOPLE in a statement that “While the County sympathizes with Ms. Bryant’s tragic loss, it did not cause the crash that claimed the lives of her husband and child. Rather, it responded to that crash and, at her specific request, set up a no-fly zone, undertook extensive efforts to keep the public and paparazzi away, and made sure none of the investigative photos were ever publicly disseminated. The County did its job and believes there is no merit to this lawsuit.”
Along with Kobe and Gianna, the crash also claimed the lives of 13-year-oldPayton Chester, Sarah Chester, 46, 14-year-oldAlyssa Altobelli,Keri Altobelli, 46,John Altobelli, 56 andChristina Mauser, 38.
The trial is set to begin in February 2022, though L.A. County attorneys recently filed a request to dismiss the lawsuit.
source: people.com
