Vanessa Bryant, Kobe‘s widow, revealed she found out her husband was dead after reading notifications online. She is currently suing Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for negligence and invasion of privacy.
Kobe Bryant died in a tragic helicopter accident last year, at the end of January. He was heading to a basketball game with one of his daughters, 13-year-old Gigi, and seven other people.
But what followed was one of the most horrific things the media has done. Police barely had any time to notice the victims, when the accident was already on every website’s first page.
Media took over the case, spreading like a virus everywhere, and some of the victim’s families found out their loved ones were dead from social media.
Including Kobe’s widow. Vanessa found out Kobe Bryant and her daughter were dead after reading “RIP Kobe” notifications on her phone.
She said a family assistant informed her of the crash. She thought five people were still alive, and was trying to call her husband, when “RIP Kobe” notifications started popping up.
She’s currently suing Los Angeles County’s Sheriff’s Department for negligence. Right after the accident, some officers allegedly shared graphic photos of the crash scene, including Kobe and Gianna’s bodies.
According to a transcript of the deposition via BBC News, Vanessa Bryant testified: “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.'”
She added: “My life will never be the same without my husband and daughter.”
I can’t even begin to imagine finding out your loved one is dead online.
