Vanessa Bryant calls out mother who says Kobe ‘promised to take care of her,’ demands financial support
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SANTA ANA, CA (KCAL/KCBS) — Kobe Bryant’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, said Thursday that her mother has filed a lawsuit against her demanding financial support and claims the late Laker legend vowed to financially take care of her for life.
In a statement, Vanessa Bryant accused her mother — Sofia Urbieta Laine — of trying to “extort a financial windfall from our family.”
Bryant also said she and her late husband long supported her mother and allowed her to live in their properties free of charge.
“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.”
Bryant mentioned that she has tried to make peace with her mother to no avail.
“Earlier this year, I was looking for a new home for her and, a week later, she went on television and gave an interview disparaging our family and making false accusations while living rent-free in a gated apartment complex in Newport Coast,” she said. “Even after that betrayal, I was willing to provide my mother with monthly support for the rest of her life and that wasn’t good enough. She, instead, contacted me through intermediaries — contrary to what she claims, my phone number hasn’t changed — and demanded $5 million, a house and a Mercedes SUV.”
Bryant said she refused, causing her mother to make “false and absurd claims” while demanding “more money than my husband and I ever spent to provide for her while he was alive.”
“She has no regard for how this is affecting my children and me,” Bryant said. “She wants to live off of my daughters and me for the rest of her life while continuing to collect monthly alimony from her ex-husband since 2004. My husband and I have never discouraged or kept her from providing for herself. This lawsuit is frivolous, disgraceful and unimaginably hurtful. My husband never promised my mother anything, and he would be so disappointed in her behavior and lack of empathy.”
On Tuesday, Laine filed the lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court.
According to People magazine, the lawsuit states that Laine worked as “a longtime personal assistant and nanny” for her daughter and Kobe Bryant. The suit also claims that Kobe Bryant had “promised to take care of (Laine) for the rest of her life.”
“Unfortunately, Kobe Bryant’s promises 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 Bryant’s promises made to (Laine),” the suit said. “Vanessa Bryant did not intend to honor any of the Bryants’ representations, agreements and promises at any stage.”
The suit also claims that Laine worked around the clock as the family’s nanny without being afforded meal or rest breaks, while also working holidays and weekends.
Laine also claims that her daughter forced her out of the home she was living in while Kobe was alive.
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