Vanessa Bryant Reveals How She Learned Of Kobe, Gianna's Deaths

It's been 21 months since Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died suddenly in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. Still, the news of the Jan. 26, 2020 incident still feels very fresh to those that revered the Los Angeles Lakers legend.

The basketball world might've lost an icon and a future WNBA star that day, but Vanessa Bryant lost even more.

Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, has done her best to honor her husband's legacy after his death, even while dealing with a personal tragedy of her own. She's had to face some difficult battles over the last year and a half, which has included filing a lawsuit against the LA County Sheriff's department.

In a recent deposition connected to that lawsuit, Vanessa Bryant revealed that she found out about Kobe and Gianna's deaths in a devastating way. While picking up her phone to call her husband on Jan. 26, she began to receive social media notifications, referencing the crash and his passing.

"I was holding onto my phone, because obviously I was trying to call my husband back, and all these notifications started popping up on my phone, saying 'RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe. RIP Kobe,'" Vanessa Bryant said in a deposition on October 12, per CNN.

Bryant recently testified as part of her lawsuit against the sheriff's department, fire department and Los Angeles County. In the lawsuit, she alleges that department employees took photos of the helicopter crash site, as well as photos of bodies believed to be her husband and daughter.

As a part of the deposition, Vanessa also revealed that the sheriff's department did not answer her questions about the condition of her family members until Sheriff Alex Villanueva told her personally that they had died. Bryant then says that she told Villanueva that she wanted the area of the crash secured so that there would not be pictures of the accident leaked to the public.

Photos of the crash were unfortunately released, leading to Bryant's lawsuit.

"I don't think it's fair that I'm here today having to fight for accountability," Bryant said, according to a transcript of the deposition that was filed with the court Friday, per CNN.

"Because no one should ever have to endure this type of pain and fear of their family members. The pictures getting released, this is not okay."