Kobe Bryant’s widow goes to court against LA Sheriff over leaked photos of NBA star’s corpse

Kobe Bryant’s widow goes to court on Wednesday in her multi-million-dollar lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over leaked photos of the corpses of the NBA star and his daughter, both of whom perished in a helicopter crash in 2020. 

Vanessa Bryant, in her federal invasion of privacy suit, claims deputies did not take the photos for investigative purposes and shared them with firefighters who responded to the crash scene.

‘Close-up photos of Gianna and Kobe’s remains were passed around on at least 28 sheriff’s department devices and by at least a dozen firefighters, and shown off in bars and at an awards gala,’ according to the suit. 

Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and other parents and players were flying to a girls basketball tournament when their chartered helicopter crashed in the Calabasas hills, west of Los Angeles, in fog on January 26, 2020.

A month before the fatal crash, Kobe and Vanessa Bryant pose for a photo at Sean Combs 50th birthday party in Los Angeles

Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna were pictured courtside at a Lakers game in December 2019 – a month before the fatal helicopter crash  

Vanessa Bryant reportedly asked authorities to not allow anyone to take photos of their bodies, but claimed she later learned firefighters and deputies were passing around photos (Pictured: The crash site in Calabasas in January 2020) 

‘Mrs. Bryant feels ill at the thought that sheriff´s deputies, firefighters, and members of the public have gawked at gratuitous images of her deceased husband and child,’ according to the lawsuit. ‘She lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online.’

Vanessa’s attorney said that a private citizen attending the 2020 Golden Mike Awards – a broadcast television awards night held less than a month after the crash – witnessed LA County Fire Department Public Information Officer Tony Imbrenda talking about the photos and showing them to others.

A bartender in Norwalk, California, said a Los Angeles police officer showed him the photos.

The widow reportedly told L.A. Sheriff Alex Villanueva on the day of the crash, January 26, 2020, to secure the crash site and not to allow any photos when she learned there were no survivors.

‘If you can’t bring my husband and baby back, please make sure no one takes photographs of them,’ she said. 

Federal safety officials blamed pilot error for the wreck. 

The new documents also reveal details that the photos were shown in at least two bars in the days following the crash. A bartender in Norwalk, California stated a Los Angeles police officer showed him the photos at the bar

Vanessa has previously said that the photos showing the death of her husband and daughter were ‘out there’ caused her ‘constant fear and anxiety,’ and that she was having trouble sleeping and was depressed as a result

Vanessa Bryant has also sued the helicopter charter company and the deceased pilot´s estate.

The county has argued that Bryant has suffered emotional distress from the deaths, not the photos, which were ordered deleted by the sheriff. 

They said the photos have never been in the media, on the internet or otherwise publicly disseminated, and that the lawsuit is speculative about the harm she may suffer.

A law prompted by the crash makes it a crime for first responders to take unauthorized photos of deceased people at the scene of an accident or crime.

The county already agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a similar case brought by two families whose relatives died in the January 26, 2020, crash.

Vanessa Bryant did not settle her case, indicating she’s seeking more.

The litigation has at times been ugly.

When the county sought a psychiatric evaluation of Bryant to determine if she suffered emotional distress because of the photos, her lawyers criticized the ‘scorched-earth discovery tactics’ used to bully her and other family members of victims to abandon their lawsuits.

The county responded by saying they were sympathetic to Bryant’s losses and dismissed her case as a ‘money grab.’