Vanessa Bryant Reaches $28.5 Million Settlement In Ongoing Lawsuit Over Helicopter Crash Photos

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Vanessa Bryant has finally reached a settlement in her ongoing lawsuit with Los Angeles County.
Source: PATRICK T. FALLON / Getty

In the lawsuit over leaked photos from the helicopter crash that killed her husband, Kobe Bryant, and their daughter, Gianna Bryant, Vanessa has agreed to a $28.85 million payout from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
According to reports from PEOPLE, this agreement includes claims from Vanessa, also covering any future claims from her and Kobe’s daughters Natalia, 20, Bianka, 6, and Capri, 3. The settlement is still “conditional upon court approval” for the minor children. All parties involved will pay for their own legal fees.

“Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct,” Bryant’s lawyer Luis Li said in a statement to PEOPLE. “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.”

Mira Hashmall, the lead trial counsel for LA County in the case, called the settlement awarded to Bryant “fair and reasonable.”

“This settlement now concludes all County-related litigation related to the tragic January 2020 helicopter crash,” she said in a statement. “We hope Ms. Bryant and her children continue to heal from their loss.”

The newly-agreed settlement amount includes the $15 million that Vanessa was awarded back in August. At the time, the jury found the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) and Fire Department (LAFD) did share photos of the bodies of Vanessa and her co-plaintiff Chris Chester’s loved ones, and, in doing so, invaded their privacy and caused emotional distress.
Chester previously agreed to a $19.95 million settlement.
Both Vanessa and Chris–who tragically lost his wife Sarah and their 13-year-old daughter Payton in the crash–sued Los Angeles County for emotional distress and mental anguish upon learning members of the department shared photos of the victims’ remains. Bryant and Chester claimed photographs of the victims’ bodies were publicly shared on at least 28 devices owned by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, and by more than a dozen first responders.

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