Vanessa Bryant must turn over over therapy records in her lawsuit over photos of a helicopter crash involving her late husband Kobe Bryant and daughter Gianna, according to TODAY. Vanessa is suing Los Angeles County and its sheriff’s office over the images of the victims’ bodies that county employees allegedly “showed off” following the crash that happened on Jan. 26, 2020.
The judge made the ruling after attorneys for Los Angeles County requested that Bryant released “all documents relating to or reflecting the counseling, therapy, psychotherapy, psychiatry or any other mental health treatment provided to Vanessa Bryant from Jan. 1, 2010, to the present.” The court documents said that Bryant “has waived her psychotherapist-patient privilege by placing into controversy the reportedly extraordinary, continuing emotional distress allegedly resulting from Defendants’ photograph-related actions or inactions.”
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U.S. Magistrate Judge Clark F. Eick granted the motion but didn’t agree to Bryant turning over records from the last 10 years. Instead, the therapy record had to date back less than five years. This comes after the court denied that Vanessa Bryant had to take a psych exam over the photos.
“The County continues to have nothing but the deepest sympathy for the enormous grief Ms. Bryant suffered as a result of the tragic helicopter accident, Los Angeles attorney Skip Miller wrote in a statement. “Our motion for access to her medical records, however, is a standard request in lawsuits where a plaintiff demands millions of dollars for claims of emotional distress. I have an obligation to take this step to defend the County.”
Last month in a deposition, Bryant talked about how the photos should have never been taken. “I do not want my little girls or I to ever have to see their remains in that matter,” Bryant said. “Nor do I think it’s right that the photographs were taken in the first place because it’s already tough enough that I have to experience this heartache and this loss. But now, to live the rest of my life having to fear those photographs surfacing is something that I have to deal with every single day.” Bryant also said she learned about the crash from the family’s assistant.
“Grief isn’t linear. Every day is different, and I try my best to put a smile on my face for my little girls,” Bryant said. “I want them to live in the love and not in the loss. And I make a conscious effort to try to portray that everything’s fine for them.”
