Vanessa Bryant and LA County have reached a settlement of $28.85 million over the leaked photos from the helicopter crash scene where her husband Kobe and daughter Gianna died. The settlement includes the $15 million a jury awarded Bryant back in August.
“Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct. She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect. We hope her victory at trial and this settlement will put an end to this practice,” Bryant’s lawyer Luis Li said as Vanessa Bryant and LA County reached an agreement.
Bryant sued the L.A. County months after the accident that killed her husband and daughter for taking photos of the crash site and sharing them.
“The gratuitous images soon became talked about within the department, as deputies displayed them to colleagues in settings that had nothing to do with investigating the accident,” read the complaint. “One deputy even used his photos of the victims to try to impress a woman at a bar, bragging about how he had been at the crash site.”
The lawsuit claimed that the “outrageous actions” by the Sheriff’s Department “caused Mrs. Bryant severe and emotional distress.”
Named as a co-plaintiff, Chris Chester, also lost his wife and daughter in the accident. The crash also killed Alyssa Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, John Altobelli, Christina Mauser and pilot Ara Zobayan. Two other families separately settled with the county over the photos for $1.25 million each. All of the victims’ families reached a settlement with the helicopter company over the crash, but those terms remain confidential.