Vanessa Bryant Settles Lawsuit Over Kobe Crash Photos for $28.5 Million

Kobe Bryant’s widow Vanessa Bryant has reached a $28.5-million settlement with Los Angeles County over photos she claimed were taken improperly of the bodies of her husband Kobe Bryant and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna.

The settlement included the $15 million that was already awarded to Vanessa in August.

In a statement, Vanessa’s lawyer Luis Li said, “Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant's courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct. She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect. We hope her victory at trial and this settlement will put an end to this practice.”

Mira Hashmall, who represented Los Angeles County, said she believed that the settlement was “fair and reasonable,” adding, “[It] resolves all outstanding issues related to pending legal claims in state court, future claims by the Bryant children, and other costs, with each party responsible for its respective attorneys' fees."

Chris Chester, whose wife Sara and daughter Payton perished in the crash, has been awarded $19.5 million.

Over the summer, Vanessa testified for nearly three hours about how she found out Kobe and Gianna had been in an accident: the family’s assistant, Kate, had broken the bad news.

She then said that she had a feeling of helplessness once she discovered that L.A. Sheriff’s Department employees and emergency personnel had allegedly taken the images of her loved ones — and seven other victims — after the January 2020 accident, sharing them.

Vanessa expressed that she will “live in fear of being on social media and having these photos pop up.” She referred to her reactions as “blindsided, devastated, hurt” and also “betrayed” that photos exist at all.

The anguished mom also said she fears the impact the photos could have on her surviving kids with Kobe — Natalia, 20, Bianka, 6, and Capri, 3.

“I want to remember my husband and my daughter the way that they were,” she testified.

The widow testified under oath that when she went to the Lost Hills Sheriff Station the morning of the crash, she asked Sheriff Alex Villanueva to secure the area from paparazzi and others.

She remembered imploring, “If you can’t bring my babies back, can you please secure the area?”

Days later, it was revealed that first responders had taken and shared photos of the gruesome scene.

“I trusted them not to do these things,” Vanessa said on the stand, making the point that first responders photographed Gianna’s corpse the day after the crash only because “her daddy wasn’t there to protect her — he was at the morgue.”

“[I] expected [first responders] to have more compassion and respect,” she said. “My husband and my daughter deserve dignity.”