Hollywood, just like the rest of the world, continues to mourn Kobe Bryant, who died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 with eight others, including his daughter, Gianna Bryant. Now, in a new interview with the New York Post, Jamie Foxx is speaking out on how deeply the tragedy affected him and his own family.
“There’s no silver lining in it,” Foxx told the publication on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at Avi & Co.’s cocktail bash. “My kids were broken in half, like everybody was. If we can get anything out of it, it’s we need to move closer and get in proximity with people that you may not normally get along with or talk to. I see people change. I hope we can keep that energy up.”
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This isn’t the first time that Foxx has opened up about Bryant’s death. In the days following the tragedy, the Django Unchained actor not only spoke to TMZ about the incident, but he also posted numerous tributes to the late athlete on Instagram.
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“He lived legendary. And his transition will be legendary man,” Foxx told TMZ days after the tragic helicopter accident. “He literally like he made us think about love more. You can’t put your mind around it, but I will say this, it’ll be looked at as something of legends man. Like I said it made me want to embrace life, family more. Just God bless him and his family.”
Shortly after Bryant’s passing was reported on Jan. 26, Foxx released a couple of tributes to him on Instagram that very day.
“Just can’t take this one,” Foxx wrote, captioning a photo of Bryant with his wife, Vanessa Bryant, and three of their daughters, Gianna, Natalia, and Bianka. “Sending up prayers to your beautiful family. This hurt is for a lifetime… @kobebryant you will be missed for eternity. REST IN POWER.”
On Jan. 27, Foxx shared another post on Instagram in honor of Bryant, and his post highlighted just how generous the NBA legend was. According to Foxx, Bryant bought out theaters in order to screen the film Just Mercy. The film follows Walter McMillian (Foxx) a black man who was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a white woman in Alabama, as Deadline noted. A young lawyer named Bryan Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) works to free McMillan.
“Just a few days ago you opened up your heart and bought out theatres for the inner city,” Foxx captioned a video of the Just Mercy cast with Bryant at a screening of the film. “We got a chance to chop it up. My heart breaks looking back at this.”
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bryant, a Philadelphia native, bought out a theater in South Philly. The late basketball icon even detailed the screening on Twitter. The screening took place on Jan. 11, only a couple of weeks prior to his death.
