Vanessa Bryant, center, steps out of a Los Angeles courthouse with her daughter Natalia and soccer player Sydney Leroux in August 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The widow of basketball player Kobe Bryant, Vanessa Bryant, hit A an agreement of $28.85 million (€27 million) with Los Angeles County, in damages for photographs taken by police and firefighters at the scene where her husband was killed. Bryant, aka Vanessa Lane, sued the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Fire Department in September 2020: The settlement settles the lawsuit and includes a $15 million settlement already paid last August in his favor. It precludes any future claims by both Bryant and his three daughters: Natalia, Bianca and Capri Bryant, ages 20, 6, and 3, respectively.
Kobe Bryant, a five-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers, died at the age of 41 along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other people in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020. A wife sued the county claiming the photos violate the constitutional right to privacy. They photographed the remains of Bryant, his daughter, and the other Matinees up close, and were not circulated publicly, only internally among clients. However, Vanessa Bryant has always said that she resents the idea of the photos being made public.
The settlement was reached after a federal court in August 2022 found the sheriff and fire departments guilty of violating Vanessa Bryant’s constitutional rights, and ordered Los Angeles County to pay $15 million in damages. The county will also pay $15 million to Chris Chester, whose wife and daughter were among those killed in the crash; It will pay Chester an additional $4.95m to avoid future disputes (about €19m in total).
– Also read: Ten great moments from Kobe Bryant’s career
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