Vanessa Bryant Gets Her Respect!

Vanessa and Natalia Bryant celebrate a victory against police corruption.

Vanessa Bryant will receive her respect. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors are paying Kobe Bryant's widow $16 million because of the fire and sheriff's department deciding to take the graphic photos of the tragic Jan. 2020 helicopter crash. The county forked over nearly $40 million due to cops being willing to share graphic images of Kobe to celebrity agitating websites.

A jury awarded the $16 million to Bryant and an additional $15 million to Chris Chester, whose wife Sarah and daughter Payton also died in the crash, on Wednesday, ending a legal battle that had been in the works for two years. During the trial, Bryant's legal team alleged she had suffered emotional distress from several employees of the L.A. County Sheriff's Department and Fire Department sharing photos from the crash site, including pictures of the bodies of her husband and daughter.

The majority of the money came from the Sheriff's Department, as the jury found the department had an established practice of sharing such photos.

The helicopter was unfortunately not prepared for the bad weather. The NTSB confirmed that weather conditions were extremely foggy when the pilot took off.

Kobe and Gianna died in a fiery helicopter crash in 2020.

Jurors listened to 11 days worth of graphic and emotional testimony. Witnesses during the trial included a deputy who said he showed images from the scene to two people at a bar; another deputy who said he shared photos while playing a video game; a deputy who air-dropped scene photos to an unidentified person in firefighting gear; a fire captain who took similar photos but turned in a department device missing its hard drive; and a fire official who showed the images to other personnel during an awards ceremony cocktail hour.

The federal jury found both the Sheriff's and Fire Departments lacked proper policies and training which caused the violation of rights. The only plaintiff claim not supported by jurors was in a finding that the county fire department was not liable for any long-standing widespread practice or custom of taking illicit photos. The sheriff's department was found liable for the same issue.

Immediately after the verdict was read, Bryant hugged her attorneys. As she continued to cry, Bryant then tearfully embraced her daughter Natalia in the front row. She left the courthouse without making a statement, but did post a picture of her, Kobe Bryant and their daughter Gianna on Instagram with the caption: "All for you! I love you! JUSTICE for Kobe and Gigi!"