“I Learnt About My Husband Death From Social Media”…Kobe Bryant Wife Pays Tribute To Late Husband

Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, said she learned about the basketball star’s death when social media notifications began showing up on her phone — hours before she got the official confirmation from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department.

“I was holding onto my phone, because obviously I was trying to call my husband back, and all these notifications started popping up on my phone, saying ‘RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe,'” Vanessa Bryant said in a deposition on October 12.

Bryant, 41, and one of his daughters, Gianna, 13, were among nine people killed when a helicopter crashed into a hillside in Calabasas, California, on January 26, 2020.

They were on their way to a basketball game at the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks when the crash happened, Lady Mavericks team director Evelyn Morales said at the time.

Vanessa Bryant testified as part of her lawsuit against the sheriff’s department, fire department and Los Angeles County, alleging that department employees took photos of the helicopter crash site, including photos of bodies believed to be her husband and daughter.