Very possibly. I’m always leery of videos that come out too soon, though I’m not sure if we are referring to the same one.
I’m sure there will be an excruciating amount of detail as tine goes on.
The Washington Post suspended one if its employees who had the temerity to post an article about the arrest in Colorado to Twitter. Since when is posting a fact a suspending offense to a news organization.
Those advocating that there should more discussion about the rape allegations might be interested in this story of a Washington Post reporter who has been suspended for tweeting articles about it while the news of his death was still unfolding.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/washington-post-political-reporter-suspended-over-kobe-bryant-tweets
Athletic prowess trumps all other conduct, and can excuse any prior behavior so we all need to ignore it? Nope, not for me. I do wonder how Bryant would have reacted had his daughter been such a victim. And I will be interested in seeing if there is similar discretion urged when Harvey Weinstein passes-after all, he made some good movies.
Perhaps, but sources say it was not the link to the Daily Beast article but something about a screenshot of her work inbox showing full names of her critics that might violate Post privacy policy as well as Twitter terms of service and create legal issues.
That’s ridiculous. But so is suggesting that there is anything “positive” about an accident that killed 9 people, even if it does give some the opportunity to get their pound of flesh.
I don’t know how she feels, but I can tell you as a sexual assault survivor what it feels like to see my friends and family fill up social media with adulations about the great Kobe. Bad, though not surprising. I’m just muting people temporarily so I don’t get too upset over something unintentional. I’ve had a few conversations with women I know off line who lived through sexual assault, and I’d highly recommend checking in as it was appreciated.
Anyway, I know he inspired many with his talent and his advocacy for women’s sports vis-a-vis his daughter. I’m sure he was a good dad. I have room in my heart to feel sorry for his family and the family of the other victims. I can’t imagine what his wife must be feeling now, and the remaining siblings of the Orange County family. Awful.
But Kobe Bryant never had to really reckon with what he did all throughout his adult life, and “now’s not the time” even in death.
Honestly, because I really dislike basketball, I know far less about his talents and more about his life apart from basketball. The 200 wishes he granted for Make A Wish, the countless times he surprised young fans and inspired them to get out of their circumstances,etc. I couldn’t have told you if the sex offense was committed by Kobe Bryant, by Shaquille O’Neal, or by Michael Jordan, or some other big time athlete who was very famous for playing b-ball.
But yesterday when the news came out, I began to vaguely remember something about a sexual offense of some kind. I remembered something about a public apology to his wife for “infidelity.” Since I never followed basketball, I couldn’t remember any of the details, and as you mention, nothing was being said about it at all yesterday, at least not that I saw.
I’ve since read about it this morning, and I don’t blame you for your feelings. You are probably more generous in your assessment than most in your shoes would be.
I thought of Harvey Weinstein also. He may have hope to resurrect his good name. After all, he did produce some good movies. One difference is this: Harvey is ugly. Kobe was handsome. (Yes, this is off topic) But it seems to me that good looking people are thought better of, than ugly people. No matter what they’ve done. It’s superficial, it’s just the luck of the genes, they had nothing to do with being good looking and yet, we humans, seem to imbue good looking people with virtue, being good quality people.
I think also contributing (not sure I agree with the ugly/handsome thing) is that HW appears to have been much more prolific. The more I read about this today, the more I think people are willing to forgive if it appears that a person has made attempts to become a better person. HW allegedly had hundreds of victims and never appeared to re-evaluate his behavior after being called out on it (and also paying out settlements) over and over and over. He went on years long campaigns to damage some of these victims long after the fact. Etc.
From what I understand, KB did not have a legacy of years of victimizing people. The public forgives what they perceive to be a one off.
Again though, I did not follow KB’s life-he was a very peripheral figure in my consciousness. So if it turns out he never actually turned a new leaf, I’m sure it will come out in the days ahead and some, not all (because, you know, basketball), might re-think their esteem of him as a human being.
Actually when I heard the news of the crash my first thought was horror and sadness that he and (especially his young daughter) several others, had died in such a terrible manner. But my second thought was about the rape charges and trial which I remember because the details of the event were so horrific, and which he admitted to at the time although he insisted that the acts were consensual (he actually choked the woman, leaving bruising around her neck). I always thought of that story whenever his name was mentioned during his very successful career.
I’m very disappointed that WaPo suspended the reported who dared to mention the case and are now saying that it was because of the screenshots of her Twitter account. I really hope she doesn’t end up being fired. People do lead complicated lives and when they die I know the people who loved them do not want everyone to be reminded of sordid events in their past. However, when you are such a public figure it is to be expected that when glorifying all the good things he did (and there were many), the very serious bad acts will not and should not be ignored.
@JoBlue, there was no trial. The victim asked prosecutors to drop the charges right before it was due to take place.
Look, you don’t have to whitewash the departed and only speak of the good. But in the moments after someone’s passing, don’t be without mercy.
17 years ago, kobe was accused of assault and the charges were later dropped after the woman declined to testify and that should be looked at again, of course. But in this moment of shock and terrible grief for these families, I would not turn to that first.
Yesterday, in LA, you couldn’t turn on any news channel without it being Kobe wall to wall coverage. They didn’t mention Colorado, not even once (that I saw). It was fawning, hero-worship stuff. One has to wonder whether the message of the MeToo movement has really taken hold. (The Colorado woman had actual evidence of physical assault documented by heath care providers, btw. It wasn’t just a he said-she said with no corroborating evidence).
I have no dog in this fight. I barely knew who Kobe Bryant was (yeah, sports aren’t really my thing), But just because there was physical evidence doesn’t mean it wasn’t consensual. You can all say “Who the hell would consent to being choked??”, but…it most definitely happens.
It is highly likely that a corporation owns the helicopter and pays the pilot (and Kobe owned the corporation). There will be the corporation and an insurance company to sue, but Kobe’s estate will be protected. I used to do aviation insurance defense, and there is one big insurer that insures most helicopters, or they use Lloyds of London.
It is not surprising that more private helicopters crash than public ones. It is not because of the carelessness or daring of their pilots to fly in bad weather but due to the size of the crafts and the experience of their pilots. Same is true with more small planes crashing than big commercial ones. It is unusual for 1 large commercial plane to crash per year in the US (with maybe 130 on board) but hundreds of small planes crash each year killing 1-4 people per accident. Sometimes small private planes account for 100% of deaths each year.
The helicopter took off from Newport Beach (Orange County) and didn’t seem to run into trouble until it hit LA county air space. Perhaps there weren’t visibility problems farther south and the pilot felt it was safe to take off. I don’t think he would have taken off, even if Kobe insisted, if the conditions were bad. Pilots don’t listen to passengers or even bosses. I worked for a company that owned a plane and even if the president had insisted (and he WAS that much of a jerk), the pilots would not have listened to him; they cancelled or delayed all the time because of weather and the president was just unhappy about it.
Bryant stated the sexual activity may not have been consensual in his apology.
From the Washington Post: “The helicopter pilot flying Kobe Bryant and seven other passengers Sunday was given clearance to fly in worse than normal weather conditions, without relying on instruments to guide him, according to recordings of his communications with air traffic controllers. Shortly before the helicopter crashed, killing everyone on board, the pilot was approved for what’s known as special visual flight rules, according to audio reviewed by The Washington Post.”
Sarah Chester and her daughter Payton were the last 2 victims of the crash.
Leaving behind a husband/father and twin 10th grade boys.
https://heavy.com/sports/2020/01/sikorsky-s-76-helicopter-n72ex-kobe-bryant/
The helicopter was not owned by Bryant, it was chartered. It was owned by a corporation called Island Express Holdings, or IEX.