Vanessa Bryant and Mother Sofia Laine are reported to have settled their lawsuit over Kobe’s estate, TMZ reports.
According to the report, Sofia Laine had claimed she worked as a nanny for Vanessa and Kobe for nearly 20 years and said she was owed $200,000, computed at a rate of $96 an hour.
She also claimed Kobe promised to take care of her for the rest of her life. She says after Kobe died, Vanessa kicked her out of the home Kobe had allegedly bought for her.
Vanessa called the lawsuit “frivolous, disgraceful and unimaginably hurtful.” She went onto say: “My husband never promised my mother anything, and he would be so disappointed in her behaviour and lack of empathy.
As for getting money for working as a nanny, Vanessa said, “I have supported her for nearly 20 years, and was never my or Kobe’s personal assistant, nor was she a nanny.”
Vanessa went on “In reality, she only occasionally babysat my older girls when they were toddlers,” adding, “As of ten years ago, our kids were full-time students and athletes and I didn’t have another child until 2016.”
Vanessa points to a legal fight Sofia was having against her ex-husband in 2004 and 2008 over spousal support. Sofia’s ex-husband claimed he should not have to pay her because she was being supported by Kobe and Vanessa.
Sofia fired back that her daughter and son-in-law had no obligation to support her, and whatever they gave her was simply out of the goodness of their hearts.
Sofia’s ex also pointed to tabloid stories which claimed Vanessa bought a $1 million home for her so she wasn’t in need of support. Sofia shot back … the stories were “absolutely false” and “I would never permit Vanessa to do such a thing. I have not and do not (nor should I be required to) rely on Vanessa for my support.”
Vanessa had other reasons why she wanted the lawsuit dismissed, and one of those reasons was that Sofia had argued that Kobe made an oral promise to “take care of her financially.” Vanessa’s legal team had said that even if Kobe had said that, it’s too vague to be enforced.
The terms of the settlement between Vanessa Bryant and Mother were not disclosed, but the case is over.