It’s been just two days since the world learned of the death of legendary basketball player Kobe Bryant, who was killed in a helicopter crash along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant and seven others. As fans continue to grieve the loss of a star, iconic musician MC Hammer says that “the grieving has just begun.”
In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, MC Hammer discusses the excitement surrounding his new Super Bowl LIV commercial for Cheetos, but didn’t miss a beat on sharing his thoughts about the deaths of Bryant and the eight other lives lost on Sunday.
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“My thoughts are with Kobe’s family and his friends, and of course the fans of the Los Angeles Lakers … and the families of all the other people who have lost a loved one from the accident,” he said.
“Kobe was, obviously, you see him — rest in peace to his beautiful daughter — you see him with his kids and he was a very loving father and a very giving father. It touches us on many levels beyond sports, and there are certain people God put on the planet that move and touch the planet and Kobe was one of those special people and to lose him is very difficult on many levels,” he continued.
Bryant, along with his daughter Gianna (aka Gigi), as well as, John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester, Payton Chester and pilot Ara Zobayan, all fell victim to a deadly helicopter crash the morning of Sunday Jan. 26. Hammer is encouraging those mourning the losses to go easy on themselves, because grief shows itself in many different ways, meaning there’s no end date on when it’ll ease up.
“Grieving is unique to each person, everybody grieves differently,” the “U Can’t Touch This” singer explained. “The one thing I do want to remind people is that the grieving has just begun and sometimes you grieve without knowing it and there’s no specific date on where grieving ends, so give yourself time. Give yourself time to work through it.”
Hammer agrees with the sentiment of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who tweeted that Bryant and his daughter brought the world closer together.
I hope we all remember that Kobe and Gianna have brought our country closer together than anyone has in a generation. Their memory truly is a blessing that we should build on.
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) January 27, 2020
“It speaks volumes to what he represented and if the world coming closer together is one of the blessings that comes from this then God also bless his soul for that,” Hammer said.
While it’s a sad time for everyone at the moment, the 56-year-old does have something to look forward to come Super Bowl time. Cheetos has decided to run a Super Bowl commercial for the first time in over a decade, which happens to be the 30th anniversary of Hammer’s hit song “U Can’t Touch This.”
“It’s exciting, I’m having a lot of fun with it! When they approached me and they said ‘Hammer, how would you like to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ‘U Can’t Touch This’ along with Cheetos,’ I just thought that was a fantastic idea!”
Hammer says the concept of the commercial “had me laughing.”
The Super Bowl airs Sunday, Feb. 2 from Miami, Florida, where the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will go head to head for the Lombardi trophy. In case fans are wondering, Hammer is repping his hometown and rooting for the Niners!
Photo credit: Jason LaVeris/Getty.
