The career of the late basketball legend Kobe Bryant wasn’t just all balls, games, and successes.
In 2003, a 19-year-old woman said Bryant sexually assaulted her inside a hotel room at the Lodge & Spa at Cordillera, Colorado.
The woman was said to be working in the front desk of the hotel, went with Bryant to accompany him for a tour in the property, and later on went inside his hotel room where the said ‘rape’ incident happened.
However, such ended in a settlement as the woman agreed to the dismissal of the case a week before the trial began.
Bryant issued a statement after the incident, an apology to the woman and acknowledging her perspective of their encounter.
Such case, however, has affected a part of Bryant’s career as his Academy winning animated short film ‘Dear Basketball’ was dropped from a film festival in 2018, as the committee states ‘this is an urgent time to say NO to toxic and violent behavior against women.’
Bryant who was disappointed with the decision of the film festival committee decided to not discuss about the issue but, instead, shared his goal to change the world through diverse stories, characters and leadership.
Many, up to this day, still consider the sexual violence case of the late legend to have no clear resolution.
Sources: The New York Times, Vox