On Thursday (August 25), Vanessa Bryant announced that she will be donating proceeds from the $16 million she was recently awarded in her lawsuit against Los Angeles County to charity.
The court ordered L.A. County to pay Bryant for the mental anguish she experienced when she learned that police officers and firefighters shared graphic photos of the helicopter crash site where Bryant’s husband, NBA legend Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, lost their lives in January 2020.
Funds will go to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, a nonprofit organization named after Kobe and Gianna, which provides financial support to sports programs in underserved communities.
“From the beginning, Vanessa Bryant has sought only accountability, but our legal system does not permit her to force better policies, more training or officer discipline,” Bryant’s attorney Luis Li said in a statement to the Times. “Those measures are the responsibility of the sheriff’s and fire departments – responsibilities that Mrs. Bryant’s efforts have exposed as woefully deficient, even giving amnesty to the wrongdoers.”
Originally called the Mamba Sports Foundation (Kobe’s nickname on the basketball court was the Black Mamba), the organization changed its name in 2020 to honor Gianna, too.
Earlier this year, L.A. County requested the lawsuit be thrown out of court, but a U.S. District Judge did not agree and said there were “genuine issues of material fact for trial.” According to documents filed by Bryant’s attorney, “close-up photos of Gianna and Kobe’s remains were passed around on at least 28 [Los Angeles Sheriff Department] devices and by at least a dozen firefighters.”
According to the Times, Li said a judgment for Bryant would “shine a light on Kobe and Gigi’s legacy.”
