Vanessa Bryant Reaches $28.85 Million Lawsuit with Los Angeles County Over Helicopter Crash Photos

Vanessa Bryant has settled her lawsuit against Los Angeles County.

Vanessa, 40, reached a $28.85 million agreement with the county to settle the suit over the photos that were taken at site of the helicopter crash that killed her husband Kobe Bryant, their daughter Gianna, and seven others back in 2020.

Keep reading to find out more…

“Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct,” Luis Li, an attorney representing Vanessa, shared in a statement with CNN. “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.”

In case you aren’t aware, Vanessa sued L.A. County for damages after emergency personnel allegedly shared graphic crash scene images with unauthorized people.

The L.A. County Board of Supervisors agreed to pay the Bryant family the nearly $29 million to settle the lawsuit and potential future claims made by Vanessa and and her daughters.

“We believe the settlement approved by the Board in the Bryant case is fair and reasonable. The $28,850,000 settlement includes the verdict awarded by the federal jury in August 2022, and further resolves all outstanding issues related to pending legal claims in state court, future claims by the Bryant children, and other costs, with each party responsible for its respective attorneys’ fees,” Mira Hashmall, lead trial counsel for L.A. County in the case, shared in a statement via Entertainment Tonight.

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

The settlement comes after a federal jury in August 2022 found the L.A. County Sheriff’s and Fire departments liable for infringing on the constitutional rights of Vanessa and her co-plantiff Christopher Chester, whose wife Sarah and 13-year-old daughter Payton also died in the crash, for taking and sharing the gruesome photos.

At the time, the jury awarded Christopher with $15 million and Vanessa with $16 million, which was later reduced to $15 million due to a clerical error.

Find out what Vanessa announced she planned on doing with her settlement money.