Vanessa Bryant Wants Mother’s Lawsuit Dismissed

Vanessa Bryant is asking a court to dismiss a lawsuit against her by her mother, Sofia Urbieta Laine. In the lawsuit, filed December 15, 2020, Laine claims she is owed back pay for personal assistant and nanny services provided to Vanessa and Kobe Bryant. She also claims that the late NBA icon “promised” to financially support her for her lifetime, which her daughter denies.

According to the New York Daily News, in a 43-page dismissal motion filed in Orange County Superior Court, Bryant called the lawsuit “factually, legally and morally deficient.”

She claims Kobe never made the “promise” and alleged Urbieta said so in 2004 when she was going through a divorce. 

“Over ten years ago, in divorce proceedings in this court, Urbieta’s ex-husband, Stephen Laine, attempted to reduce his spousal support payments on the ground that Urbieta was living in a multi-million dollar home and was being financially supported by the Bryants,” the motion stated. 

“Urbieta denied these claims and repeatedly stated that she was not promised financial support and was not receiving any such support from the Bryants.”

One court declaration cited in the filing, claimed Urbieta said, “neither of my daughters has any obligation whatsoever, to financially support me. They each have their own lives, children and responsibilities.”

She was eventually awarded spousal support. The motion also claims in 2008 she asked for more spousal support, claiming she  was not being taken care of by Kobe and Vanessa Bryant. 

Lawyers will argue the dismissal on April 23.  

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In case you missed it, according to the Los Angeles Times, court documents filed on Dec. 15 claim Laine is owed years of back pay for working as a “longtime personal assistant and nanny” for the family. The 68-year-old also said that the Lakers legend had “promised to take care” of his mother-in-law “for the rest of her life” just days before his death in a helicopter crash alongside his daughter Gianna and seven others. 

“Unfortunately, Kobe Bryant’s promise did not see the light of day as he is now deceased and Vanessa Bryant took each and every step she could to void and cancel all of Kobe’s promises,” the 48-page lawsuit claims, saying Vanessa Bryant never intended to honor her late husband’s comments.

Vanessa said that she and her husband had financially supported her mother and allowed her to live in one of their homes near their Newport Coast residence for free. 

“She was a grandmother who was supported by me and her son-in-law at my request,” Bryant said. “She now wants to back charge me $96 per hour for supposedly working 12 hours a day for 18 years for watching her grandchildren. In reality, she only occasionally babysat my older girls when they were toddlers.”

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Vaness says that she was a stay-at-home-mom to her four daughters, Natalia, 17; Bianka, 4; Capri 18 months; and Gianna, 13. And writes that for the last ten years her children were attending school or enrolled in sports programs and that her mother’s claims are false. 

According to financial experts, Vanessa Bryant inherited control of an estate valued at as much as $600 million after Kobe Bryant’s death, the Los Angeles Times reports.