# Vanessa Bryant

Vanessa Marie Bryant (born Vanessa Urbieta Cornejo; May 5, 1982) is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the widow of American professional basketball player Kobe Bryant. With her husband, she founded the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Foundation in 2007 to provide scholarships to minority college students worldwide. Bryant leads the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, an organization dedicated to supporting child athletes who are in need.
On January 26, 2020, Bryant's husband Kobe and her daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Bryant subsequently filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County, which was later settled in 2023.

## Early life

Bryant was born Vanessa Urbieta Cornejo on May 5, 1982, in Los Angeles, California, to Mexican immigrant Sofia Urbieta. Her parents divorced when she was a baby and her father relocated to Mexico; she is estranged from her father. Her mother was a shipping clerk at an electronics company who married her coworker Stephen Laine in 1990. Bryant began going by Laine's surname instead of her birth father’s, Cornejo, and officially changed her name to Vanessa Marie Laine in 2000, despite never officially being adopted by her step-father. She has an older sister, Sophie.
Her family had been living in her maternal aunt's spare room until her mother's marriage to Laine, after which they relocated to Garden Grove. She attended Marina High School in Huntington Beach.
In August 1999, Bryant and her friend Rowena Ireifej attended a hip-hop concert at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. They were approached by a company and offered work as music video extras and backup dancers. Bryant later appeared in music videos for artists including Krayzie Bone and Snoop Dogg. Her mother chaperoned her on the shoots. In November 1999, 17-year-old Bryant was working as a background dancer for Tha Eastsidaz rap music video "G'd Up" when she met future husband Kobe Bryant, who was on set working on a rap album.
Their high-profile relationship caused disruptions at her high school, leading Bryant to complete her senior year at home as an independent study; she graduated in 2000. Her mother and step-father filed for bankruptcy in 2000 and divorced in 2002.

## Career and philanthropy

In 2007, Bryant and her husband founded the VIVO Foundation which was later renamed the Kobe and Vanessa Bryant Foundation. It is a charity that supports increasing a global perspective among young people. It provides scholarships for minority college students and other youth worldwide. The charity has collaborated with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Bryant and her husband were founding donors of the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
In 2020, following the death of her husband and second-oldest daughter, Bryant changed the name of her husband's Mamba Sports Foundation to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation in honor of her daughter. It supports poor child athletes. In May 2021, Bryant launched a Mambacita line of clothing in honor of her daughter Gianna. The line is in partnership with a female-owned brand, Dannijo and all proceeds go towards the Mambacita Sports Foundation.
Bryant was the president and chief executive officer of Granity Studios.
Bryant worked with Baby2Baby to provide support for women and children in poverty. At the Baby2Baby 10-year gala in November 2021, she received a philanthropy award.

## Personal life

In November 1999, 17-year-old Bryant was working as a background dancer for Tha Eastsidaz rap music video "G'd Up" when she met Kobe Bryant, who was on set working on a rap album. Six months after meeting, the couple were engaged. Her engagement ring included a seven-carat diamond. They married on April 18, 2001. The wedding was attended by approximately twelve people and was held in Dana Point, California, at the St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church; the wedding was not attended by Kobe's parents, two sisters, longtime advisor and agent, or teammates. After the marriage, she changed her name to Vanessa Marie Bryant. They had four children: Natalia Diamante (born January 2003), Gianna "Gigi" Maria-Onore (May 2006 - January 2020), Bianka Bella (born December 2016), and Capri Kobe (born June 2019).
During the 2003 sexual assault case against her husband, it was revealed that he cheated on her with multiple women. Bryant defended him, stating: "I know my husband made the mistake of adultery". A few days later, she received a $4 million eight-carat purple diamond ring leading to speculation that this was a gift for her support. Kobe reportedly had commissioned the ring two weeks prior. He later said that he felt guilt about a miscarriage that Bryant experienced in early 2005, attributing it to the rape allegations.
In 2004, Bryant accused Lakers player Karl Malone of acting inappropriately towards her. Malone later apologized while denying making a pass at her. Sports Illustrated published a story titled Vanessa-gate about "wife-poaching" by Malone. Other columnists described Bryant as the new Yoko Ono, and she was the subject of a Saturday Night Live parody. Critics called her a drama queen, while others applauded her for challenging the NBA culture of tolerance of tomcatting.
In 2009, Vanessa's housekeeper Maria Jimenez sued the Bryants, alleging that Vanessa verbally abused and humiliated her while she worked at their Newport Coast home from September 2007 to March 2008. Vanessa allegedly forced Jimenez to stick her hand in a bag of dog feces to retrieve a price tag as punishment for putting a $690 Gucci blouse in the washing machine and routinely called her “lazy, slow, dumb, a fucking liar and fucking shit,” among other abuses. The Bryants denied those allegations and counter-sued Jimenez, alleging that she breached a confidentiality agreement. Bryant settled the suit in 2010, paying an undisclosed amount to Jimenez.
At a 2010 Lakers game against the Phoenix Suns, Bryant wore a t-shirt that read "Do I Look Illegal?” in protest against the Arizona SB 1070 Immigration Law, which critics said makes life harder for illegal immigrants living in the country.
In December 2011, Vanessa filed for divorce from Kobe, citing irreconcilable differences and sparked speculation about the possible distribution of assets in a divorce. Thirteen months later, the Bryants called off the divorce. In 2016, David Wharton and Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times described Bryant as a contradictory and "at times polarizing public figure".
In 2012, Bryant faced public backlash and was called a gold digger when she said in a New York Magazine interview: "I certainly would not want to be married to somebody that can’t win championships. If you’re sacrificing time away from my family and myself for the benefit of winning championships, then winning a championship should happen every single year."
In December 2020, a lawsuit was filed against Vanessa by her mother Sofia Urbieta Laine for fraud, alleging she had worked for years without pay as their “personal assistant and nanny” and that Kobe had promised to support her financially before his death in January. Vanessa allegedly kicked her mother out of her home and took away her car, according to a Univision interview. The lawsuit was settled in 2021.

## 2020 helicopter crash and subsequent litigation

On January 26, 2020, Bryant's husband and their daughter Gigi died in the Calabasas helicopter crash. She sued Los Angeles County for invasion of privacy and negligence after employees of the Sheriff's Office and Fire Department took photos of the victims of the crash and improperly shared them. The case went to trial and, in August 2022, she was awarded $16 million in damages. In February 2023, the county settled the case with Bryant and her daughters, with the county agreeing to pay $28.85 million (including the approximate $15 million awarded to her in the previous year and additional funds to settle potential claims from her daughters). Vanessa Bryant said she would donate the lawsuit proceeds to the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation.