Shaquille O’Neal has praised Vanessa Bryant’s decision to go after the Los Angeles County who she filed a lawsuit against for sharing invasive photos of the crash site where her husband Kobe Bryant, their 13-year-old daughter Gianna, and seven other people lost their lives. In January 2020, the group was traveling via helicopter during foggy weather conditions to the Mamba Academy for basketball practice in Thousand Oaks before plowing into a mountain outside the city of Calabasas, subsequently plummeting and crashing to the ground.
O’Neal recently sat down for an interview with Entertainment Tonight to discuss his upcoming second annual fundraiser gala, during which time he wanted to acknowledge how proud he was of Vanessa for taking action against those who recklessly shared the gruesome crash site photos where her two loved ones had died. Snaps of the helicopter wreck were allegedly sent to over 30 people, with Vanessa’s lawyer saying in court last week that the intent behind the tasteless move appeared to have been nothing more than to “have a laugh” about a very tragic situation.
I hope Vanessa Bryant wins her lawsuit and the court makes an example out of those sorry excuse for sheriffs. That even their kids grand kids have to keep paying.
— 🏆 𝓛𝓪𝓴𝓮𝓻𝓼 𝓓𝔂𝓷𝓪𝓼𝓽𝔂 🏆 (@LakersDynastyLD) August 12, 2022
O’Neal reacted to the case, which is currently on trial, explaining, “I feel for her. We’ve never talked a lot [but] we’ve always had respect for each other. Every time I see her, it’s a hug, it’s a laugh. But I couldn’t imagine what she’s going through. We live in a world where, especially when it gets to the internet, people don’t care. But those are pictures that I would never, ever want to see, so she’s doing a great thing by holding people responsible.”
Last week, when the trial commenced, Vanessa was said to have walked out of the courtroom when the jury described the images that were taken and shared with colleagues and friends, detailing the horrendous injuries both Kobe and Gianna endured from the crash that took their lives.
Not the LA county sheriff trying to gaslight Vanessa Bryant in this trial Saying she needs a psych evaluation … um sir maybe your staff that took pictures next to her decapitated child’s body and shared it for money need the psych eval actually but who am I
— Alexandra (@hollywoodisland) August 15, 2022
The mother of three is suing LA County for emotional distress, particularly because while she was still grieving the sudden death of not just her daughter but also her longtime husband, officers felt it was appropriate to make a mockery of the devastating loss by invading her privacy with the reckless decision to distribute the gruesome pics to others.
The fire captain Brian Jordan, who has since retired from his job, had also testified in the case, saying that while he took photos of body parts of the victims in the crash, he stressed he’d only been doing his job. “I was there. I do not remember being there. Please stop describing the scene to me,” he told the court. “Please refrain from taking my brain back to that crash site.”