Vanessa Bryant says that Evan Rachel Wood calling her late husband Kobe Bryant “rapist” the day he died is “vile” and “disturbing”.
Hours after Kobe’s death on January 26, 2020, the “Westworld” actress, 33, tweeted: “What happened is tragic. I am heartbroken for the Kobe family. He was a sport hero. He was also a rapist. And all of these truths can exist simultaneously. ”
Vanessa, 38, posted on Saturday in her Instagram story that the tweet was catching her eye a year later.
“Your fake, insensitive, defamatory and slanderous tweet on 1/26/20 is vile and disturbing to say the least,” wrote the NBA player’s widow about a screenshot of the original tweet. “Such behavior is part of the reason why innocent blacks go to jail for crimes they did not commit. An accusation does not make anyone guilty. ”
“YOU DON’T KNOW THE FACTS OF THE CASE,” she added. Vanessa sent the same message to film producer Abigail Disney, who tweeted at the time: “The man was a rapist. Deal with it.”
Kobe was charged with sexual assault in 2003 by an employee of a 19-year-old hotel in Colorado. Prosecutors dropped the charges after the accuser refused to testify. She later filed a civil suit against the Los Angeles Laker, which was settled out of court in 2005.
Wood’s tweet immediately sparked a backlash in 2020, with fans coming to Kobe’s defense. Actress Kyla Pratt replied that she admired Wood’s work, but “this tweet? How d – king dare you? “
Vanessa posted and thanked Pratt for his response to Wood on Saturday.
A Wood representative did not immediately return our request for comment.
Earlier this month, Wood called his alleged abuser ex-fiancee Marilyn Manson.
“He started to prepare me when I was a teenager and he abused me terribly for years,” she said. “I was brainwashed and manipulated until submission. I got tired of living in fear of retaliation, slander or blackmail. I am here to expose this dangerous man and summon the many industries that have enabled him, before he ruins more lives. I stay with the many victims who will no longer be silent. ”
After several allegations by Wood and other women, Manson – who vehemently denied all charges – was dropped by his record label and longtime manager.
“Obviously, my art and my life have been magnets for controversy, but these recent statements about me are horrible distortions of reality,” Manson, 52, wrote in a statement. “My intimate relationships have always been consensual with like-minded partners. Regardless of how – and why – others are now choosing to misrepresent the past, that is the truth. “