Vanessa Bryant Claps Back Over Kobe Accusation

Vanessa Bryant set the record straight on Instagram Saturday (Feb. 27) after she discovered social media posts after her husband, Kobe Bryant, died that called him a “rapist.”

Bryant posted a screenshot of the old tweets from Evan Rachel Wood and producer Abigail Disney who said the basketball star’s legacy is tarnished because he was charged with sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in 2003, a case which was ultimately dismissed.

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Back in January 2020, Disney wrote, “I haven’t said anything about Kobe so far because I felt some time needed to pass before weighing in. But yes, it’s time for the sledgehammer to come out. The man was a rapist. Deal with it.”

Wood wrote a similar message last year on Jan. 26.

“I’m broken hearted for Kobe’s family. He was a sports hero. He was also a rapist,” her post said.

Bryant wrote that the tweets had “just come to my attention.”

“Your false, insensitive, defamatory and slanderous tweet on 1/26/20 is vile and disturbing to say the least. Behavior like this is part of the reason why innocent black men go to jail for crimes they didn’t commit. An accusation doesn’t make someone guilty. You don’t know the facts of the case,” she responded.

Prosecutors dropped the case after the accuser was unwilling to testify, according to the New York Times. The case ended in a settlement, and the details were kept private.