Just hours after the families of victims killed in a helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others filed wrongful death lawsuits against the aircraft company alongside the NBA icon’s widow, Vanessa Bryant took to social media night to share adorable footage of her daughters dancing and living life following the immense loss. In the video shared to her Instagram account that has since raked in more than 2.7 million views, Vanessa posted a TikTok video of her 17-year-old daughter, Natalia dancing with her cousins as daughter Bianka, 3 pops in and struts her stuff while sporting a Muppets t-shirt.
“Little sister. [heart emoji] Bianka Bella. BB Kiddo [happy face] [Natalia Bryant],” Vanessa captioned the video on Sunday night, alongside a string of hashtags, including family and cousins. The post garnered a slew of comments from fans and admirers, who commented on the happy moment amid a global pandemic that has found countless citizens staying in doors and quarantining.
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“Can you get any cuter?? Wow, this is awesome!!” wrote one fan, as another chimed in, “BIGGEST SMILE IN THE WORLD!” Several others echoed the sentiment with a long line of comments that entailed just emojis of hearts and hugs. “Infectious with positive vibes,” wrote another fan.
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The post comes fresh off the heels of the Altobelli and Mauser families claiming Island Express — the helicopter company responsible for flying Bryant and friends — had “negligently and carelessly breached its duty to own, lease, manage, maintain, control, entrust, charter and operate the helicopter in question in a reasonable manner,” per a report from TMZ. Despite weather condition warnings, the private helicopter crashed amid dense fog and caused a brush fire. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, the aircraft was not up to “standard for flying.” The exact cause of the crash has yet to be determined.
It has been a weighty few months for Bryant’s family and matriarch, Vanessa, who shared a statement from her attorney, Gary Robb in response to reports last month that deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had taken photographs of the crash site and shared them among themselves. “Absolutely devastated,” Vanessa issued a statement via Robb, admitting she was incredibly upset over the reports from the department. However, she is notably “grateful” to the individual who filed the complaint against the department as a way to “protect human dignity.”
While TMZ alleges the source was a bartender who overheard the conversation and filed an online complaint, the agency is also reporting that the Sheriff’s Department knew about this leak for almost three weeks, with the deputy trainee in question showing the photos off to a woman in a bar, just days after the crash. In the statement posted by Bryant’s widow, Robb states his client personally went to the Sheriff’s office on the day of the crash, requesting that the area be “designated a no-fly zone and protected from photographers.”
Vanessa’s statement goes on to cite how the privacy of such photographs was of “critical importance to her as she desired to protect the dignity of all the victims, and their families.” It has since been reported that while deputies of the department are facing potential discipline after allegedly taking photos of the helicopter crash site, the department has asked the civilian oversight panel to examine future policies on taking photographs of crime and accident scenes.
