FAMILY TRAGEDY

Vanessa Bryant Says Her Mom Is Trying to Extort $5 Million From Her

Vanessa’s husband, NBA legend Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash earlier this year.

Vanessa Bryant says her mom is trying to extort $5 million from her through a lawsuit filed in court Tuesday. “This lawsuit is frivolous, disgraceful, and unimaginably hurtful,” she wrote in the statement, posted to her Instagram story. Vanessa’s husband, NBA legend Kobe Bryant, and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash earlier this year. In the lawsuit, obtained by People, Vanessa Bryant’s mother, Sofia Laine, alleges that Kobe had “promised to take care of” his mother-in-law “for the rest of her life” but Vanessa was doing everything possible to “void and cancel” those promises. In her statement, Vanessa Bryant denies Laine’s claim that she is owed money as the couple’s personal assistant and nanny. “My husband never promised my mother anything, and he would be so disappointed in her behavior and lack of empathy,” the statement reads.