Kobe and Gigi Bryant killed in helicopter crash

[KenAdams]

This is incredibly sad. Gigi had a promising basketball career ahead of her too

13 years old she's not much more than a baby. God bless and look after you heaven Gigi.

Rip Kobe.

Life is so fragile.
This 100%

Very sad for his family and heartbreaking that a 13 has died.

He was a violent rapist however, and I hate that rich men are allowed to rewrite history and that we mourn them and forget the women they broke.

Why do parents allow their kids to have guys like this as role models?

*very talented sportsman, yes. An amazing man? Hmm.

Very tragic nonetheless for his family and awful about his daughter too*

It isn't a question of wanting to shit on someone who has just died. It is a question of not holding up celebrities as saints or higher beings just because they were your heroes.
I'd be the same if it were Ched Evans, Nate Parker, Paddy Jackson, Stuart Olding or a famous Irish boxer. None of whom were convicted of any crime but whose conduct was also far from gentlemanly.
You cannot rewrite history. It is human to eulogise but the woman in question won't think of him as a sweet angel.
You can nonetheless empathise with the family - the two are not mutually exclusive.

RIP Gigi. That’s really heartbreaking and I feel for her mum.

It’s almost like people enjoy wallowing in second hand sadness on threads like these

Exactly. A complete stranger. No angel. Good at basketball. Rich. It is a tragedy for his loved ones. No-one else.

This thread is a disgrace, with some of the things being said about this man who has DIED - along with his daughter.

Very sad about his daughter, but I'm not sure why we are supposed to mourn a man who admitted having sex that his victim 'might have thought' was non-consensual, just because he was good at throwing a ball through a hoop.

Kobe was an amazing basketball player, pillar in the community and good man. He was a philanthropist and supported disadvantaged children. May he rest in peace, hbledr behind big shoes to fill and will sorely be missed.

Gigi was a rising star in her own right. It is beyond sad to lose such a shining light.

Yes he is a good role model and I wouldn't mind for my sons to look up to him. The same way Piers Morgan and everyone else is happy to prop Winston Churchill as a hero despite him killing millions of Indian people and gloss over the inconvenient facts. Won't expend my energy to find more examples but they are millions to boot. At least with Kobe the law took it's course.

Yes I said what the fuck I said. Flame me if you want.

At least with Kobe the law took it's course.

Except it didn’t.

Yes I said what the fuck I said. Flame me if you want

You are deluded

On September 1, 2004, Eagle County District Judge Terry Ruckriegle dismissed the charges against Bryan

What more do you want? The man bad a trial. It was dismissed.

At least with Kobe the law took it's course.

Well he used his wealth to harass his victim into not testifying in a criminal court, then bought her off, if that's what you mean?

I am sorry for his daughter. I am also sorry for the 19 year old who was choked and who the police surgeon found had multiple lacerations to her vagina.

The man bad a trial. It was dismissed.

He didn’t have a trial at all 🙄 look, I’m sorry for his family, but we can’t pretend he was a “pillar of the community” for goodness sake. The facts speak for themselves.

Yes who had another man's semen and pubic hair found on her underwear. He voluntarily turned himself in and provided a sample.

I won't re-litigate the trial with you. But they both had problematic stories. Charges were dropped for a reason.

If you think Churchill is a hero despite his actions, then by all means back the fuck off if I like Kobe and want to remember a man who helped tons of black and minority children escape their circumstances by giving them opportunities.
He voluntarily turned himself in and provided a sample.

www.vaildaily.com/news/bryants-statements-to-detectives-recording-and-transcript-of-interview/
www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/crime/kobe-bryant-hearing-transcript

Your role model for your sons is at best a cheater who likes rough sex, at worst a man who thinks women are meat.
I pray you don't have daughters.

Yeah the facts speak for themselves he was active in the community and will sorely be missed. Thank goodness Vanessa is still there to continue their work and his legacy.

It is extremely sad. My deepest sympathy to family and friends.

Bit strange that he bought her off, bought his wife a massive diamond to apologise, and admitted that his victim thought the sex was non-consensual then, wasn't it?

We're so in thrall to wealth and celebrity that we're prepared to throw a raped teenager under the bus. Why does she matter less than Kobe's daughter, just because her dad isn't a millionaire?

Your role model for your sons is at best a cheater who likes rough sex
At best
(Sexual preferences between two consenting adults are nobody's business), a cheater (so many "great" men hav cheated on their wives but it didn't define them, even Nelson fucking Mandela cheating on his wife multiple times as did JFK, Bill Clinton the list is endless). He was a philanthropist, active in the black and Chinese communities, gave scholarships etc.

Yes who had another man's semen and pubic hair found on her underwear They also found his semen inside her and her blood (from the lacerations to her vagina) on his shirt. She was only a teenager and he was strangling her, leaving bruises on her neck and jaw whilst he raped her. Zuvarangu

I won't re-litigate this. It went to court and charges were dropped.

There was no trial. The teenager was bullied into not testifying. I cannot see how he can be held as a role model for young men with that background.

** https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/business/2018/10/06/less-than-percent-rapes-lead-felony-convictions-least-percent-victims-face-emotional-physical-consequences/%3foutputType=ampp*

It is like meetoo never actually happened.
Less than 1% of felonies lead to a conviction.

It is possible to admire someone's sporting abilities and the work they do in the community while despising the way they have behaved towards some women.

Charges were dropped

And?
Fame and money produce some very odd legal results in the USA in particular.
It is important not to be blinded by ability in some areas to weakness in others.