Vanessa Bryant, the wife of the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant who was killed in a helicopter crash, has been awarded millions after a legal battle with her husband’s former employee.
Bryant’s widow was locked in a fierce battle with her husband’s former employee Molly Carter over the earnings of the late basketballer.
Carter fought for a share of Kobe Bryant’s payout from the sale of sports drink company BodyArmor.
Molly Carter, who was the president of Kobe Inc., claimed the basketball star promised her a cut of the earnings he received from his investment in BodyArmor.
Kobe paid $6 million/Ksh834 million for a $10% interest in BodyArmor back in 2013, before Coca-Cola bought it for $5.6 billion/Ksh779 billion a few years later. As a result of the sale, Kobe’s investment yielded him $400 million/Ksh55 billion.
The drama fired up when Molly alleged Kobe had promised her 2% of the Ksh55 billion – something Kobe denied ever saying.
Molly filed a lawsuit, and Vanessa stepped up to defend the case and even moved forward with a counterclaim against Molly accusing her of violating the duty of loyalty and non-disparagement clause she signed as part of her employment contract.
Vanessa accused Molly of violating the agreement by making fun of her family, and she included various examples of the ugly words allegedly said about Kobe and even herself.
Vanessa alleges Molly called Kobe ‘an a**hole’, a ‘dick wad’, and a ‘douche nugget.’ She also alleged Molly called her specifically the ‘f***ing devil’, ‘b**ch’, and ‘PSYCHO.’ Molly also allegedly said Vanessa’s newborn daughter had ‘botox lips.’
Vanessa also cited an alleged remark made by Molly when she was traveling to an NBA All-Star game during her employment. Molly allegedly groused ‘a lot of fancy-ass Black people’ were on the jet she was on.
TMZ reported the battle all started back in 2019, six months before Kobe’s death.
Kobe’s widow ultimately emerged victorious in the original lawsuit and her counterclaim after the case was taken to arbitration. She won $1.5 million/Ksh208 million.
Kobe, the former Lakers star, five-time NBA champion and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, was traveling with her daughter Gianna and seven others to a youth basketball game when the helicopter they were aboard crashed into hills in Calabasas west of Los Angeles on January 26, 2020.
