Vanessa Bryant Says Mother Is Trying to 'Extort a Financial Windfall From Our Family' With Lawsuit

Vanessa Bryant is firing back at her mother, who has filed a lawsuit against her. According to PEOPLE, Sofia Laine, 68, is suing her daughter Vanessa, 38, for financial support. Laine claims she worked unpaid as a "longtime personal assistant and nanny" for the family. This comes nearly one year after the death of Vanessa's husband and Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who Laine said had "promised to take care of" his mother-in-law "for the rest of her life" before his death.

Vanessa released a statement to PEOPLE and said her mother is "continuing to try and find ways to extort a financial windfall from our family." She also said she supported her mother "for nearly 20 years, and she was never my or Kobe's personal assistant, nor was she a nanny." Along with Kobe, Vanessa lost the couple's 13-year-old daughter Gianna in the helicopter crash back in January. She is currently taking care of her and Kobe's daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka, 4, and Capri Kobe, 18 months.

"For nearly two decades, we arranged for my mother to live in our nearby properties, at no cost to her because she had claimed that she didn't have any money to buy her own home after her divorce," Vanessa said to PEOPLE. "My husband and I felt it was best for her not to live in our home. She watched our girls from time to time, just like most grandparents do. She did not take care of business issues or expenses."

Back in September, Laine did an interview with Univision revealed that Vanessa kicked her out of the house after Kobe's death. "She told me, 'I need you to get out of this house.' She also told me that she wanted her car and she wants it now," Laine told Univision reporter Dave Valdez in the Spanish-language show El Gorda y La Flaca. When Vanessa heard about the interview, she released a statement.

"My husband and daughter passed away unexpectedly, and yet my mother had the audacity to do a television interview speaking negatively of me while shedding tears for a car and a house that were not in her name," she said. "She has removed all her diamond jewelry, emptied the apartment I provided, and put away the furniture to make it look like she doesn't have my support. My husband and I have supported her financially for the past 20 years, and continue to do so, in addition to her monthly alimony."