Sofia Laine is suing her daughter Vanessa Bryant for financial support following the death of NBA star Kobe Bryant.
Laine, 68, reportedly filed a lawsuit against Vanessa, 38, on Tuesday.
According to Us Weekly, which obtained a copy of the lawsuit filed in a California court, Laine claimed she worked without pay as a “personal assistant and nanny” for Bryant’s family for a long time. She also claimed that before Kobe Bryant died, he promised to take care of her for the “rest of her life.”
She said that Kobe was unable to fulfill his promise because he died unexpectedly. And she alleges that since Kobe’s death, Vanessa has tried to avoid making good the promise that Kobe made to her.
Vanessa Bryant responds to Laine’s lawsuit
Reacting to the lawsuit by her mom, Vanessa alleged in a statement to multiple media sources that her mother was trying to extort the family.
“My mother is continuing to try and find ways to extort a financial windfall from our family,” she said.
“I have supported her for nearly twenty years, and she was never my or Kobe’s personal assistant, nor was she a nanny. This lawsuit is frivolous, disgraceful, and unimaginably hurtful,” she added. “My husband never promised my mother anything, and he would be so disappointed in her behavior and lack of empathy.”
In a Univision interview, Laine alleged that Vanessa kicked her out of their house
Monsters and Critics reported back in September 2020 how Laine appeared in an interview with the Univision reporter Dave Valadez on the Spanish language show El Gorda y La Flaca.
During the interview, Laine alleged that her daughter, Vanessa, kicked her out of their home in California.
Laine also tearfully alleged that Vanessa took the car from her before kicking her out of the house.
“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 said.
Laine did not say what allegedly caused Vanessa to kick her out of the house, and the allegations against Vanessa came as a surprise to fans because previous media reports had suggested that Vanessa and her mom were very close.
Laine’s allegations came after Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash
Laine’s public allegations against her daughter came after Vanessa’s husband, Kobe Bryant, 41, and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna, died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California in January.
Kobe and Gianna were traveling with nine other people, including the baseball coach John Altobelli and his wife. They were traveling to attend a basketball event at the Mamba Sports Academy in Thousands Oaks, California.
Vanessa and Kobe shared three other children besides Gianna: Natalia Diamante (born January 2003), Bianka Bella (born December 2016), and Capri (born June 2019).