Vanessa Bryant, the spouse of the late NBA icon Kobe Bryant, has slammed Evan Rachel Wood after her controversial tweet labelled the Los Angeles Lakers legend as a rapist.
38-year-old Vanessa posted her response to the tweet via Instagram Story, where she called Wood’s comments, which came only hours after Kobe’s death on January 26th 2020, as “vile and disturbing.”
The original tweet from the 33-year-old had read, “What has happened is tragic. I am heartbroken for Kobe’s family. He was a sports hero. He was also a rapist. And all of these truths can exist simultaneously.”
“Your false, insensitive, defamatory and slanderous tweet on 1/26/20 is vile and disturbing to say the least,” the NBA player’s widow wrote over a screenshot from the American actress’ original tweet. “Behaviour like this is part of the reason why innocent black men go to jail for crimes they didn’t commit. An accusation doesn’t make someone guilty.”
“YOU DON’T KNOW THE FACTS OF THE CASE,” she added.
The same response was also sent to film producer Abigail Disney, who tweeted at the time, “The man was a rapist. Deal with it.”
Rape allegations involving Kobe first started in 2003, when a 19-year-old hotel employee in Colorado accused him of sexual assault. The accuser didn’t testify as prosecutors dropped the case which then resurfaced two years later as the civil case was settled out of court.
Source: Page Six