Vanessa Bryant, whose husband Kobe and 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash in January 2020, says Nike appears to be selling a shoe she designed in honor of her late daughter — a shoe she did not authorize the athletics company to sell.
Bryant made the allegations against the company in an Instagram post, explaining the situation along with photos of people apparently wearing the shoe she designed.
“This is a shoe I worked on in honor of my daughter, Gianna. It was going to be called the MAMBACITA shoe as an exclusive black and white colorway on her daddy’s shoes. I picked the colors in honor of her uniform, the number 2 she wore just like her uniform, the inside pattern, Kobe and Gigi on the back in gold instead of Kobe’s signature, the inside shoe details (butterfly, wings, halo), etc.,” Bryant wrote. “The MAMBACITA shoes are NOT approved for sale. I wanted it to be sold to honor my daughter with ALL of the proceeds benefiting our [Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation but I did not re-sign the Nike contract and decided not to sell these shoes. (The MAMBACITA shoes were not approved to be made in the first place.)
“Nike has NOT sent any of these pairs to me and my girls,” Bryant continued. “I do not know how someone else has their hands on shoes I designed in honor of my daughter, Gigi and we don’t. I hope these shoes did not get sold.”
Bryant also asked if “someone can share how they have these shoes in their possession,” since she and her daughters do not have their own pairs.
Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, were killed in a helicopter accident early last year. The National Transportation Safety Board investigated the crash and determined the pilot became disoriented in the bad weather, causing the crash that killed nine people.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, attorneys for L.A. County said Vanessa Bryant has turned a “straightforward” case regarding the improper distribution of photos from the helicopter crash into a “fishing expedition.”
In the wake of the tragic helicopter crash, sheriff’s deputies released photos of the crash wreckage, a move that resulted in a lawsuit from Bryant. Lawyers for Los Angeles County now say that Bryant has turned what should have been a “straightforward” case into a “fishing expedition,” according to court documents reviewed by Fox News.
The claim came in the county’s response to Bryant’s attorneys requesting an extra six months for discovery in order to execute more depositions and compile more evidence.
“This straightforward case, with undisputed facts, has turned into a fishing expedition that is taking first responders away from their job – and subject [sic] them to public harassment and threats,” the court filing says. “Defendants are eager to have their day in Court and put an end to this.”
Further, L.A. county attorneys argued that the court should deny Bryant’s request and said she has been delaying the proceedings.