RIP Kobe Bryant

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For the first 2-3 days, ‘everyone’ said that Kobe Bryant owned the helicopter, and that the pilot worked for him. NOW the story is that the copter was owned by a charter company which today announced they are ceasing operations.

A Kobe Bryant mural painted this week on a sushi restaurant in Austin, Texas, was promptly blemished with the word “RAPIST” stained onto the wall, according to local reports.

The purple lettering was added between Thursday night and Friday morning, KXAN-TV reported, and the addition was immediately scrubbed.

In the summer of 2003, a 19-year-old accused Bryant of raping her in a Colorado hotel room. Prosecutors dropped the case a year later, saying that the accuser wasn’t willing to testify. Bryant, 24 at the time of the allegation, said he believed the encounter was consensual.

A civil lawsuit was settled out of court.

In the summer of 2003, a 19-year-old accused Bryant of raping her in a Colorado hotel room. Prosecutors dropped the case a year later, saying that the accuser wasn’t willing to testify. Bryant, 24 at the time of the allegation, said he believed the encounter was consensual.

Young female fans probably send mixed signals...this girl probably desired to be in his company (her instagram moment) which probably confused him over her intentions. Of course if he liked what he saw he could have also manipulated the situation. Perhaps both were at fault but at the end of the day there's no evidence he either held her against her will or coerced her.

The Kobe Bryant sexual assault case began in July 2003, when the news media reported that the sheriff's office in Eagle, Colorado, had arrested professional basketball player Kobe Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed by a 19-year-old hotel employee.Bryant had checked into The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, a hotel in Edwards, Colorado, on June 30 in advance of having surgery near there on July 2 under Richard Steadman. The woman accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room on July 1. She filed a police report and authorities questioned Bryant about bruising on the accuser's neck. Bryant admitted to a sexual encounter with his accuser but insisted the sex was consensual. The case was dropped after Bryant's accuser refused to testify in the case. A separate civil suit was later filed against Bryant by the woman. This was settled out of court and included Bryant publicly apologizing to his accuser, the public, and family, while denying the allegations

Eagle County Sheriff investigators first confronted Bryant with the sexual assault accusation on July 2. During the July 2003 interview with investigators, Bryant initially told investigators that he did not have sexual intercourse with his accuser, a 19-year-old woman who worked at the hotel where Bryant was staying. When the officers told Bryant that she had taken an exam that yielded physical evidence, such as semen, Bryant admitted to having sexual intercourse with her, but stated that the sex was consensual. When asked about bruises on the accuser's neck, Bryant admitted to "strangling" her during the encounter, stating that he held her "from the back" "around her neck", that strangling during sex was his "thing" and that he had a pattern of strangling a different sex partner (not his wife) during their recurring sexual encounters. When asked how hard he was holding onto her neck, Bryant stated, "My hands are strong. I don't know." Bryant stated that he assumed consent for sex because of the accuser's body language.

On July 18, after he was formally charged, Bryant held a news conference in which he adamantly denied having raped the woman. He admitted to having an adulterous sexual encounter with her but insisted it was consensual

On the day she was examined, she said she hadn't showered since the morning of the incident. The examination found evidence of vaginal trauma, which Bryant's defense team claimed was consistent with having sex with multiple partners in two days.

The evidence recovered by police included the T-shirt that Bryant wore the night of the incident, which had three small stains of the accuser's blood on it. The smudge was verified to be the accuser's blood by DNA testing and probably was not menstrual blood because the accuser said she had her period two weeks earlier. It was revealed that Bryant leaned the woman over a chair to have sex with her, which allegedly caused the bleeding. This was the sex act in question, as the accuser claims she told Bryant to stop, but he would not, and Bryant claims he stopped after asking if he could ejaculate on her face

as if there had been any problem".However, Bobby Pietrack, the accuser's high-school friend and a bellman at the resort, said she appeared to be very upset, and "told me that Kobe Bryant had forced sex with her".

A few weeks before the trial was scheduled to begin, the accuser wrote a letter to state investigator Gerry Sandberg clarifying some details of her first interview by Colorado police. She wrote, "I told Detective Winters that on that morning while leaving I had car troubles. That was not true. When I called in late to work that day that was the reason I gave my boss for being late. In all reality, I had simply overslept . . . I told Detective Winters that Mr. Bryant had made me stay in the room and wash my face. While I was held against my will in that room, I was not forced to wash my face. I did not wash my face. Instead, I stopped at the mirror by the elevator on that floor to clean my face up. I am extremely disappointed in myself and also very sorry to anyone misled by that mix-up of information. I said what I said because I felt that Detective Winters did not believe what had happened to me."

Bryant's defense lawyer Pamela Mackey asserted that the accuser was taking an anti-psychotic drug for the treatment of schizophrenia at the time of the incident. Lindsey McKinney, who lived with the accuser, said the woman twice tried to kill herself at school by overdosing on sleeping pills. Before the alleged incident, the accuser, an aspiring singer, tried out for the television show American Idol with the song "Forgive" by Rebecca Lynn Howard, but failed to advance. In addition to the woman's moral character and reputation being challenged by Bryant's defense lawyer, she received death threats and hate mail and her identity was leaked multiple times.

On September 1, 2004, Eagle County District Judge Terry Ruckriegle dismissed the charges against Bryant, after prosecutors spent more than $200,000 preparing for trial, because his accuser informed them that she was unwilling to testify.

On the same day that the criminal case was dismissed, Bryant issued the following statement through his attorney:

’First, I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved in this incident. I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year. Although this year has been incredibly difficult for me personally, I can only imagine the pain she has had to endure. I also want to apologize to her parents and family members, and to my family and friends and supporters, and to the citizens of Eagle, Colorado.

I also want to make it clear that I do not question the motives of this young woman. No money has been paid to this woman. She has agreed that this statement will not be used against me in the civil case. Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.

I issue this statement today fully aware that while one part of this case ends today, another remains. I understand that the civil case against me will go forward. That part of this case will be decided by and between the parties directly involved in the incident and will no longer be a financial or emotional drain on the citizens of the state of Colorado.”

In August 2004, the accuser filed a civil lawsuit against Bryant over the incident. In March 2005, the two parties settled that lawsuit. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed to the public. The Los Angeles Times reported that legal experts estimated the settlement was more than $2.5 million.

The attorney for the woman who accused Kobe Bryant of rape in 2003 said his client will not be speaking publicly about Bryant.

“The events of this past Sunday are nothing but enormously tragic,” lawyer John Clune tweeted Friday morning. “And so, while we understand the interest, our client will not be speaking at this time. Thank you for also respecting her privacy.”

A Washington Post reporter has been suspended after she tweeted an old article about Kobe Bryant being accused of rape, shortly after the news of the NBA legend's death broke.

Felicia Sonmez, a national political reporter for The Post, on Sunday afternoon tweeted a 2016 Daily Beast article with the headline "Kobe Bryant's Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser's Story, and the Half-Confession."

Her tweet came in the moments after the stunning news broke that Bryant had died at age 41 in a helicopter crash in the Los Angeles area. His 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven other people also died in the crash.

Sonmez later deleted the tweet and others, defending her decision to share the article. "Any public figure is worth remembering in their totality, even if that public figure beloved and that totality upsetting," Sonmez wrote.

She also tweeted a screenshot of hate mail she had received for the tweets, including the names of the senders. That tweet has also now been deleted.

One of The Washington Post's managing editors, Tracy Grant, said in a statement released to NBC News on Monday that Sonmez "was placed on administrative leave while The Post reviews whether tweets about the death of Kobe Bryant violated The Post newsroom's social media policy."

"The tweets displayed poor judgment that undermined the work of her colleagues," Grant said.

The Post did not specify which tweets prompted the suspension or which social media policy she violated.

Sonmez's tweet prompted swift outrage Sunday, and many called for her to be fired.

"@washingtonpost You need to fire Felicia Sonmez asap! Her tweets about Kobe Bryant after he & other victims died in a tragic helicopter crash are beyond insensitive. They are cold hearted & show no respect for his family/friends. Parents & children died today for Christ sake!" one person tweeted.

"Is the Washington Post going to fire Felicia Sonmez for this heartless tweet or does the paper condone her actions after the tragic death of Kobe Bryant?" asked another.

Many people expressed equal outrage that The Post had decided to put Sonmez on leave.

The Washington Post "should reinstate Felicia Sonmez. An overreaction to the keyboard warriors. While you can debate the timing of the tweets, it's a relevant detail to the life of Kobe Bryant. A newspaper silencing a journalist sets a terrible example," one person wrote.

Sonmez also picked up an influential supporter on the paper's staff, with media critic Erik Wemple writing an opinion column for The Post taking editors to task for this "misguided suspension."

Wemple, who also reported that Sonmez was forced to stay in a hotel Sunday night because her home address was outed online by those upset with her retweet, said the reporter did nothing wrong in pointing out the 2003 incident.

"The backlash that alighted upon Sonmez stems from the ancient wisdom that urges folks not to speak ill of the dead," Wemple wrote.

"It's a fine rule for everyone except for historians and journalists, upon whom the public relies to provide warts-and-all look-backs on the lives of influential people. Bryant clearly qualifies, as does the particular incident that Sonmez was flagging in her tweet."

Sonmez previously came forward with allegations of sexual assault against the Los Angeles Times Beijing bureau chief. The bureau chief was suspended and then resigned amid the allegations.

The Washington Post Newspaper Guild released a statement expressing its "dismay" over the decision to suspend Sonmez, specifically citing her history as a survivor of assault.

"Felicia received an onslaught of violent messages, including threats that contained her home address, in the wake of a tweet Sunday regarding Kobe Bryant," the union said. "Instead of protecting and supporting a reporter in the face of abuse, The Post placed her on administrative leave."

The statement was signed by over 160 of Sonmez's colleagues at the Post.

"The Post's handling of this issue shows utter disregard for best practices in supporting survivors of sexual violence — including the practices we use in our own journalism," the statement continued. "We urge The Post to immediately provide Felicia with a security detail and take whatever other steps are necessary to ensure her safety, as it has done in the past when other reporters were subject to threats."

RAIIN, the anti-sexual violence organization based in Washington, D.C., said it was "deeply concerned by The Washington Post’s actions in placing Felicia Sonmez on administrative leave for sharing an article detailing an allegation of sexual assault in Kobe Bryant’s past.”

"While we don’t diminish Bryant’s professional accomplishments, it is disrespectful to survivors — and history — to pretend that the sexual assault allegation never happened," the statement said. "We are grateful to Sonmez’s colleagues for speaking out against her treatment and in support of victims of sexual violence, and urge the Post to reinstate her immediately.”

While coverage of basketball icon Kobe Bryant’s death in a helicopter crash on Sunday has since engulfed media outlets, New York Magazine’s women-centric politics, fashion, and culture site The Cut has taken a decidedly different approach.

The Cut has not published a single item about Bryant following the crash that killed him and eight others, including his 13-year-old daughter Gianna. The reasoning, according to insiders, is concerns about the credible rape allegation made against the NBA star in 2003 by a then-19-year-old hotel employee.

The Cut has published extensive reporting about sexual harassment, misconduct, and violence against women in media, entertainment, and business, and has focused on encouraging and protecting victims.

While the website briefly published a photo of Bryant to its Instagram account on Sunday acknowledging his death, the post was quickly removed. And in a memo to staff on Wednesday, top editor Stella Bugbee said Bryant’s death was “tragic,” but added that she made the decision to take down the social-media post because of the allegations against him.

“Despite the collective grief, I made the decision with sincerity and loyalty to our audience, given the sexual assault allegation against him,” Bugbee wrote. “Taking down a post is never something I take lightly; I wanted to be thoughtful about a complicated topic, and respond appropriately with the nuance the story deserves. Sometimes in a breaking news story we need to give ourselves a moment to catch our breath. That’s the editorial philosophy that has guided us well and defines us.”

Bugbee did not return a request for comment elaborating on the thinking behind not covering Bryant’s death. But a person familiar said the site may well cover Bryant in the future.

While The Cut has opted to not cover Bryant’s death at all, several prominent outlets that often write about harassment and violence against women covered the NBA star’s death. Jezebel, for example, wrote about how people should talk about Bryant’s legacy, given the harrowing allegations. Vice, too, argued that media outlets covering Bryant should not downplay or compartmentalize the rape allegation made against him. Vogue, meanwhile, wrote several posts about Bryant and the Grammys’ musical tribute to him, but made no mention of the rape allegations.

There are five absolutely devastated families, and three dead children.

It amazes me that the press would talk about anything beyond the tragedy of this accident.

Some journalists and a couple of female celebrities have taken it upon themselves to spread the rape stuff while his family are in mourning

The Altobellis are survived by a son and daughter who lost their parents and sister. They were orphaned. I can't even imagine what they're going through.

I saw a giant billboard picture with his picture and his name. Everyone else's name was in tiny print at the bottom, like afterthoughts. I also saw an article that called Kobe "one of the most important people in the world". (??! ! !) No disrespect to him or to anyone else, but isn't everyone who died one of the most important people in the world? I think the word "important" was in very poor taste. Famous, yes ... but "important" ??! !

Personally, I've grown weary of hearing and reading about "basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna (along with six family friends and the pilot)" who died in a helicopter crash. Those 7 other people had names too, y'know!
This isn't all about the Bryant family.[/color]