Vanessa Bryant is getting real about the impossibly difficult aftermath of the helicopter crash that killed her husband and child, basketball legend Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna Bryant.
In new legal documents, first obtained by TMZ, the NBA star’s grieving widow has filed a declaration putting in the record exactly how she feels about the photographs of the crash site taken by first responders and others in the hours after the tragic incident.
Related: Michael Jordan Shares Final Text Messages With Kobe Bryant That He ‘Just Can’t Delete’
The statement is part of Vanessa’s ongoing lawsuit against Los Angeles County authorities, who shockingly issued a legal challenge to her claim she was hurt by the photos being out there.
In the docs, the mother says she specifically asked Sheriff Alex Villanueva to make sure that nobody would be able to take photos of Kobe and Gianna and the rest of the remains at the scene of last January’s crash. Apparently she had the foresight this could be a problem.
Per the outlet, the legal docs explicitly allege that she told Villanueva:
“If you can’t bring my husband and baby back, please make sure no one takes photographs of them.”
Wow… Such a poignant and heartbreaking thing…
Of course, not even a month after the crash, sheriff’s deputies and firefighters were allegedly sharing photos taken of Kobe and Gianna’s remains, as we’ve been reporting.
And while LA County has assured Vanessa that all the copies of the photos were supposedly secured and/or scrubbed from public view, the grieving widow doesn’t believe it. In fact, she alleges that at least 20 different people had at one point obtained copies of the photos of the crash, leaving it likely that there are at least some other digital imprints somewhere out there left unsecured by the county and its errant first responders. Obviously, with digital media nowadays, too, it’d at least be possible to think that other copies could have been spread elsewhere online.
Even worse, however, Vanessa says in the court filing that she has already personally seen one photo herself which apparently showed Kobe’s remains:
“Since viewing the photo, I’ve been tormented with thoughts of who took it and whether it depicts my husband. 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 imagine Kobe watching over what occurred at that crash scene, and I am overcome by anger and emotion.”
Going to be hard for any lawyer to argue with that.
She went on, reflecting on her “extreme sadness and anger” at the aftermath, where first responders allegedly “gawked at” those same photos along with others:
“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. 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 awards banquet.”
TOTALLY unacceptable.
Related: Vanessa Revealed She First Learned Of Kobe’s Death From ‘RIP Kobe’ Social Media Alerts
Ultimately, Vanessa admitted that she is still scared that the photos of her husband and daughter will be further disseminated online, reflecting on her fear by saying:
“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.”
Ugh… So awful…
We can’t even imagine going through something like this, and on top of that to have all the uncertainty of whether photos of your loved ones’ remains are being passed around online among some perverse, leering people.
Sending all our love to Vanessa and the rest of the grieving Bryant family as this difficult legal battle continues.
[Image via WENN/Avalon]
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