Vanessa Bryant shares touching Christmas family portrait with late husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gigi: ‘Always together, never apart’
Vanessa Bryant shared a touching Christmas setback with her late husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna Bryant, who tragically died in a helicopter crash earlier this year on January 26 in California.
‘Always together, never apart together forever in our hearts’, Vanessa, 38, wrote alongside a series of heart emojis for the film – which would have been their last Christmas together as a family.
The black and white family portrait also included daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka and Capri, one year old, posing next to Christmas trees.
Vanessa Bryant shares a touching Christmas family portrait with her late husband Kobe Bryant and her daughter Gigi: “Always together, never apart”
The two were active on social media before her death, and the basketball star called Vanessa his ‘Queen’ and his daughters ‘princesses’ in a poignant Instagram post to mark 20 years since they met when she was in high school – just weeks before his death.
He wrote: ‘On this day, 20 years ago, I met my best friend, my Queen @vanessabryant. I decided to take her on a date for Disney tonight to celebrate the old school style (pre 4 princesses).
‘I love you my mamacita forever.’
Remember: the black and white family portrait also included daughters Natalia, Bianka and Capri
Kobe loved his family and in a previous post after retiring in 2016, he wrote: ‘I am very excited to see what God has in store for us as a family now that one chapter is closing and others are opening.’
He met Vanessa in 1999 when she was 17 and was working as a model on a music video. They became engaged six months later and were married in 2001.
Kobe was 21 and played three seasons in the NBA.
There was a huge media frenzy surrounding their relationship in the early days with a television helicopter once flying over Vanessa’s school campus to try to imagine them together.
The couple is pictured here with their two oldest daughters, Natalia (right) and Gianna (front) at the Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Sports Awards 2016 in Los Angeles
The intense attention on their relationship forced her to miss the high school dance.
Kobe’s family reportedly refused to attend the low-key wedding because they were concerned that he was too young to be married and that there was no prenuptial agreement.
In 2003, the year his daughter Natalia was born, Kobe was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old teenager in a Colorado hotel. The rape charges were dropped after he claimed it was consensual and Vanessa appeared next to him at a news conference where he admitted to cheating on her.
The tearful star said to his wife, ‘You are my backbone. You are a blessing. You are a piece of my heart. You are the air that I breathe. ‘
KOBE Bryant posted a moving tribute to his wife Vanessa just weeks before the tragic helicopter accident in which he died alongside his daughter
He added: ‘And you are the strongest person I know, and I’m sorry for having to put you through this and our family too.’
The accuser subsequently dropped all charges.
The couple faced suffering in 2005, when Vanessa suffered a miscarriage due to an ectopic pregnancy. Later, he blamed himself for the stress that put her through.
Speaking in the documentary Showtime, Kobe Bryant’s Muse, he said: ‘We must build our family. But because of my mistake, because of this difficult year, we lost a baby. ‘
The couple had their second daughter, Gianna, in 2006.
Kobe and Vanessa at the 90th Academy Awards in Hollywood in 2018
But in 2011 their relationship was ruined again and Vanessa filed for divorce alleging ‘irreconcilable differences’ and was set to receive half of Kobe’s $ 150 million fortune in the settlement.
But two years later they said the divorce was canceled and in 2016 they had their third daughter, Bianca.
Kobe and Gianna, herself an enthusiastic basketball player, were on their way to the Mamba Academy for basketball training when the helicopter crashed around 10 am.
The other seven people on board also died.
The pilot – locally called Ara Zobayan – was trying to turn the aircraft around when it crashed into the hills of Las Virgenes Gorge, home to celebrities, including the Kardashians.
Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Kerry and daughter Alyssa were also among the dead.