Don’t make me talk about sports or athletes. I’m completely out of my depth when it comes to athlete gossip and the like – I just don’t pay attention to any of it. But! I did pay attention in 2003, when Kobe Bryant was accused of rape, and I remember the press conference he gave with his wife Vanessa and I remember the purple diamond ring – the so-called “apology ring” – the one Kobe gave Vanessa two seconds after he claimed that he didn’t rape a 19-year-old hotel employee, he just had sex with her. Vanessa stuck by him them, but for a lot of people, Kobe was no longer the golden boy of basketball. So what’s going to happen now that Vanessa has filed for divorce, and it’s looking like Kobe is about to be Tiger Wood’d?
Kobe Bryant, it seems, is soon to be a free agent. The Los Angeles Lakers star’s wife of 10 years, Vanessa, filed for divorce Friday in Orange County, Calif., a source confirms to PEOPLE. Vanessa cites irreconcilable differences, and is seeking spousal support and shared custody of their two daughters, Natalia Diamante Bryant, 8, and Gianna Maria-Onore, 5.
Bryant, 33, and his soon-to-be ex-wife, 29, married in April 2001, when Bryant was just 22 and she was 18.
The couple released a statement to The Insider’s Kevin Frazier saying, “The couple say “We ask that in the interest of our young children and in light of the upcoming holiday season, the public respect our privacy during this most difficult time.”
In 2003, they weathered a public scandal after Bryant was charged with allegedly raping a 19-year-old Colorado resort employee. The charges were eventually dropped after the accuser refused to testify. The case settled out of court.
Just days after Bryant was charged, his wife was seen sporting an 8-carat purple diamond ring worth about $4 million, which many interpreted as a apologetic gesture to her.
“I sit here in front of you guys, furious at myself, disgusted at myself for making the mistake of adultery,” Bryant said in a press conference in July of that year. “And I love my wife with all my heart.”
[From People]
Apparently, Kobe doesn’t have a prenup – although I don’t think it would matter because “10 years” is the magic number in California, isn’t it? After 10 years, everything is community property and Vanessa automatically gets half? TMZ reports that Kobe has already moved out their “sprawling” Newport Coast mansion and Vanessa is staying put. For why? Why is Kobe acting guilty? Because he likely is guilty of a lot of Tiger Woods-style whorin’. TMZ also reports:
Kobe Bryant’s wife Vanessa caught the NBA star “very recently” in the latest act of infidelity, and that is why she filed for divorce … sources directly connected with the couple tell TMZ.
Our sources would not tell us how Vanessa caught Kobe, but we do know it was NOT through text messages a la Tiger Woods.
We’re told Vanessa had caught Kobe with “multiple women” over the years … but his latest affair was the straw that broke the camel’s back … and she felt she needed to finally end the marriage.
What’s ironic … is that Vanessa still loves Kobe — but she just can’t stand his infidelities anymore.
[From TMZ]
Radar is more specific – their sources claim that Kobe has been having an affair with one of Kim Kardashian’s close friends, a girl named Carla DiBello. Carla is also a producer on Keeping Up With the Kardashians too. You can read more about her here – she actually does NOT sound like “just some bimbo” and Carla and Kobe have allegedly been “close” for the past few years. So… it’s interesting.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Wow..
Wonder if she will do one of those Housewives shows. LMAO. a Kardashian connection..
But bet the media won’t jump on this like Tiger. Waiting to see what the coverage is. The Tabs seem more obsessed over breakups that don’t happen.
Yes Edina Monsoon was right about Katra$hians – “Look – there’s a new disease called the Kardashians, darling! It’s just sort of spread,” They’re spreading like herpes. Each one with their own one with their own reality show. They’re multiplying like head lice.”
The ‘latest affair’ was not the straw that broke the camels back. The ‘magic number 10 (years)’ is what triggered the divorce.
I suspected this even before I read this article, knowing about the 10 year mark in CA. (Remember Tom Cruise filing for divore from Nicole Kidman and he claimed the sep’d just before their 10 year ann?…and yet he celebrated their 10 year anniversary w her??!!)
This girl is no dummy. She figured this guy out as soon as he got caught straying.and straying. and straying.
Worth it to stick it out for 10 years if you ask me.
yep 10 years is the magic number. The girl is smart lol. It seems like they already come to a financial agreement. She is sitting pretty right now. I wonder if she will do basketball wives, she probably will lol
TC filed for divorce just after the 10 year anniversary.
I’m not sure financially it would have ended making much difference at the time, since she was pretty wealthy in her own right.
Bet she was counting the days….she should get at least half for putting up with him.
Under California law, 10 years is a magic number for “indefinite” spousal support (if they split up after 9 years, she’d only get 4.5 years’ support). But not for community property. In California, generally any earnings during the marriage are community property and subject to 50/50 apportionment – starting from day 1. She didn’t have to wait a decade to get half, but she does get more alimony.
Here is a little link you guys might LOVE!
Spills the beans about Ms. Bryant. Bitch queen. Throws feces at the help, curses peeps out, etc, etc.
Kobe’s family didn’t even go to the wedding! I know he cheated, but damn…Maybe I would too if my wife or hubby was such an asshat.
Yep, and Vanessa is such a first class bitch that you know she waited around for this. Her dad made Kobe marry her when she was 17 and they were caught fooling around. He was 19 at the time.
The rape allegations-never believed that girl. Who goes to a party and brags they had sex with Kobe if you got raped and then your panties came up with many sperm samples and called the trial off when she got knocked up with another guy’s kid.
Kobe is a great player and I love him for that, but it’s been rumored he’s had all sorts of affairs, that said-if we counted up all the baller infidelities, our minds would explode. Shaq’s had how many affairs? Lamar has how many baby mamas?
He just better not mess up this season for Lakernation. He’s a cad, but he’s OUR cad. I don’t give a crap about his C-U-next tuesday wife. See multiple stories of her cursing reporters out in front of her small kids and her attitude at games. Beee-otch!
Shoot, here is the link.
http://thebryants.proboards.com/index.cgi
That’s different to what I heard from someone in the legal know in CO! There were NO doubts about what happened but the girl was incentivized not to testify – nothing they could do to prosecute him. Millions were paid!
I have an extremely close friend who worked on that case, and said there was absolutely no way Kobe wasn’t guilty, and he would have been found guilty if it had went to trial.
KB’s attorneys played the press, much like how the Italian prosecutor did in the Knox case. His attorneys did what they were being paid to do.
The girl was literally hounded and slut shamed across the country and in the world’s media. I would have dropped the damned case, too.
she sticked it out long enough to reached 10 years now half of everything is hers.
Is there any faithful altheles now a days?
I bet most of them cheats no matter what the sports, some just never get caught and hide it better.
I don’t know if you consider people who shoot skeet as “athletes” but everyone that I know at our gun club is faithful….but then there are always guns near by and that could have something to do with it.
Rita, lol.
Nothing says you better be be faithful more than a 12 gauge.
See, Rita? When there’s no domestic violence in the relationship, knowledge of how to use a gun & having a few handy is a GOOD thing! 😉
They all cheat – I once dated a guy in the NHL for about a year. I caught him cheating several times, had a melt-down and we broke up. All his NHL buddies cheated on their wives and girlfriends, it just goes with the territory – they’re rich, famous, fit, macho guys and women are drawn to them like flies to sh*t.
I know several of the NHL players in my city, and as far as I know, none of the married ones on my team cheat on their wives, they’re all pretty committed family guys. The single guys are all partiers, but they’re single so it’s okay. You may have had a bad experience, but I wouldn’t assume that every single NHL player cheats because that’s definitely not true.
Nikki–I’d argue that they behave very differently at home than they do on the road.
It’s the travel that makes it easier and more appealing.
That’s a patient woman, putting up with his infidelity for years. If she gets half his fortune, then I suppose for her it was worth the wait.
A man achieves wealth and fame and – all of a sudden – the rules of decency don’t apply to him. I’ll never understand why so many athletes and actors get married when they can’t stay faithful to one person. I’m sure they love their spouses on some level, but they have no self-control when it comes to temptation. If they want to be promiscuous manwhores like Tiger Woods, why don’t they just remain single, FFS? And use condoms while they’re at it.
I feel bad for the Bryant kids. Children always suffer when a parent does not honor his/her marriage vows.
Boys get married to replace Momma…but they don’t wanna have wicked naughty sex w Momma so they go outside of the marriage for that.
Girls get married so they can have babies and someone to help w (or pay all of) the bills.
SoCalGal in FL, you said the magic words: boys and girls. These are people with adult bodies and the emotional maturity of children, whether they are in their twenties, forties, whatever. Their reasons for getting married (substitute mommy, sperm donor with a bank account) are a pitiful joke. I’m not entirely cynical, though. There are some decent people out there, men and women, who’d marry for the right reasons. They are just harder to find.
Totally agree. These popular men are told that they’re great every second of the day and they believe it and then think they can do whatever they want. Wonder what crap he told his wife to make her want to stay for so long. Oh well, he can afford to lose half his assets and pay big $$ for the rest of his life. Was it worth it?
OOOOMMMMGGGG!!!! Kobe’s latest affair broke the camel’s back. I mean how sick is that and what kind of sex was he having? I assume they had to put the poor thing down….the camel that is.
Also, I thought the ten year 50-50 law in California applies only without a prenup. A prenup is a contract that rules…is it not?
I don’t think they have a pre-nup. I’ve read that they don’t.
If there is no prenup does the ten year rule apply? I didn’t think it did. Being Canadian I really have no clue about how it works there!
NO pre-nup? The 50/50 and endless spousal support DEF applies. If they were married less than 10 years, she’d only be entitled to spousal support for HALF the duration of the marriage.
She looks like a skank. One more reason why athletes on movie stars shouldn’t get married.
Not that we would ever blame the victim or something scummy like that.
Rat faced rapist.
He is not a rapist. Gold diggers will do anything to get money including perjury.
Yes, he is, and she never committed perjury.
Kobe is not a convicted rapist. That girl went alone to his room, came out like nothing happened, changed her clothes, chatted up her fellow employees and went to a party. She had slept with multiple partners in a 24 hour period and showed up for trial preggo. Not exactly a winner.
I totally believe they had consensual sex and she went looking for a payday. I followed that case like crazy. Anyway, as the record stands, he is NOT a rapist.
If there was such a strong case they would have gone to trial, besides that it was the DA’s first high profile case after winning a narrow election. ANd I believe he was a one term guy-could be wrong on that one.
I know I am not wrong about Vanessa. I just think infidelity is the norm for these dudes.
I just read that he has said that he genuinely now believes she felt it was rape-? I’ll try to find the link…
Everything(custody and money) has already been settled so there’s not going to be a messy trial or negotiation. Maybe something will come out but I don’t think any drama will happen. Vanessa seems very private so I doubt she will do a tell-all.
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/LoveAndMoney/CelebrityDivorceAndThe10YearItch.aspx
once again, if you are rich and cute, do not get married.
she is 29? she looks a hard 40ish…wow, what happened to her?
You mean the wife? She’s gorgeous.
Seriously. She looks her age, and she’s beautiful.
I’m in agreement about the 10 year thing – she put up with everything just long enough to hit that mark. 10 years, 2 kids – she’s sitting pretty for life.
Sounds like they already have everything worked out. I never hear about her or him, i think she’s pretty private. I think she’ll just take the money and sit pretty for life. The only people who might bring on the drama are the Kartrashians.
Under California law, 10 years is a magic number for spousal support. A 10-year marriage is considered a long-term marriage, and she can get alimony indefinitely.
But it’s not for equal division of community property. In California, generally any earnings during the marriage are community property and subject to 50/50 apportionment – starting from day 1. Since they didn’t have a prenuptial agreement, she didn’t have to wait a decade to get half, but she does get more alimony.
(I’m surprised the 10 year community property thing is misreported so often – it’s one of the subjects on the California Bar exam.)
Thanks for pointing out that 10 yrs pertains to length of spousal support. She was going to get half regardless since they didn’t have a pre-nup.
Vanessa never cared about the cheating. She only cared about the money & the lifestyle.
Seriously-more people need to read this. Her ‘waiting’ until the 10 year mark only gets her more spousal support. The usual goal of CA law is to try to get one spouse on their feet. The ‘magic number’ only affects this.
The rest of it was already going to be split 50/50. SHE WAS ALREADY GOING TO GET HALF people. They live in CA.
They are both really attractive and even though I think Vannessa is a whore I would stick with someone for 10 years if it meant I would be set for life and be free from my husband’s whoring. I think kim khartrashian will try to hit that I am sure mooma kris has been working the phones all weekend to set up a date with him.
Exactly what about this whole story paints Vanessa as a wh-re? Have there ever been stories or conjecture about her behavior, fidelity-wise, just as there have been about Kobe’s? Say what you want about how she’s rumored to treat household staff, other Laker wives, reporters, etc., but casually throwing out “wh-re” just because you find her distasteful? Classy…
By definition a whore is someone who engages in sex acts for money.
What do you think Vanessa’s been doing for the last 10 years? Or at least since the rape scandal?
Granted, she’s been whoring herself out to one very wealthy man to whom she happened to be married until she hit the point of endless spousal support, but that still makes her a whore.
Sorry.
(I understand she had a little baby at the time of the scandal, but she chose to have a second child with him.)
I just think it’s absurd that everyone thinks they know what’s going on in the lives of celebrities. So, what — you have firsthand knowledge about Vanessa’s thought process when she decided to stick around after the rape scandal? Did you speak to her yourself? Point is, NO ONE can say for sure what she was thinking or why she made the decisions she did. Speculate all you want, which really is all we can do, but being so presumptuous as to assume you know the exact reasoning behind the actions of someone else whom (I’m assuming) none of us has ever even seen in the flesh is ridiculous. Just because it may be hard to envision *why else* she would stay doesn’t mean we can make blanket assumptions about the life of a total stranger. Unless, or until, she comes out and makes a statement about why she stayed and why only now is she leaving, how dumb does everyone sound to put words in her mouth or even believe that these fly-on-the-wall rumors, and “a source said…” commentary have any bit of truth?
Why do I vividly recall the ring being touted as a rare pink diamond? It also inspired a lot of ridiculous colored diamond standards in size. JLo got a huge yellow engagement ring from Ben after the Kobe scandal, etc.
Back to this divorce – did anyone not see this coming? The guy is a dirt bag, and I’m glad that the wife has finally reached an age where she can see that she can do so much better.
Not to be contradictory, but it was J-Ho that got the humongous pink diamond engagement ring from Ben.
Don’t know about Vanessa’s pay-off ring, other than it was $4 million.
Riiight. Geez. I was getting my ostentatious celebrity rings mixed up. Thanks for clarifying.
Way to break up your family with your wayward peen asshole.
let it be known that I said in a KK post last week, that Kobe has been creeping w/KK’s bestie Carla DiBello for yrs.
I remember a pic of her being in Turkey when he was and they were not snapped together but the background was the same in some basketball stadium.
what would she be doing in Turkey at a basketball event after further investigation–it was said that she went to all of his home games and some on the road–UNTIL Vanessa confronted and threatened her and Kobe.
Carla is trash, just like KK..she was creeping w/Kobe when the whole rape thing came about.
Its time for Vanessa to move on…she did her time and put up w/his cheating.
Duly noted.
Do you guys know anything about Vanessa? As an avid Lakers fan and sports radio, I can tell you she is a first rate bitch. I’m shocked he hasn’t left HER for all the crap she’s pulled. Give it a google, ladies. She once cursed out an ESPN reporter for being near the locker room waiting for an interview. Everyone in LA hates this bitch.
Original Tiffany: Yes. I have a dear friend whose sister is/was married to a Laker at the same time Kobe & Shaq were on the team. (LOVED IT when she came down to SD to party with us!) She said Vanessa is a stone-cold, ice-hearted bitch queen.
Which is kinda funny (odd) considering she barely had a high school education and no career to speak of prior to marrying Kobe. Being an “aspiring model” and in a video or two does not a career make. (Not that that excuses his wandering dong. Nor does it excuse her uber bitchiness.)
(couldn’t reply to your post, so I had to reply to mine.)
Posh has apparently been putting up with it for years too, so the sport does not matter. She has what she wants and gets on with her life.
Kim is going to throw Carla under the bus now that kobe is single, you know she wants him to be husband #3.
now i know y i didn’t like the lakers. plus the fact that i get to see frankenkris kartrashian.
When are women — even hot women — going to start realizing that marrying pro athletes is almost a guarantee that you’re going to get cheated on at some point in your life together? Elin Woods, I am looking at you.
I know there are exceptions, but they’re probably few and far between.
As long as there’s money involved, I don’t think that they will mind.
She deserves everything she can get from him. Even if he ends up with Kim K’s friend he will cheat on her too. I wish Vanessa well but her reputation is that she’s a biotch. The only way to get back at Kobe is to date someone rich and famous like him. BTW I dont see her being on Basketball wives, most of them hate her.
He has daughters. I don’t know I just hate when men cheat and have young daughter. Teaches them that men don’t respect women especially their mothers. It does something to them when they get older. Changes who they were going to be. He should respect his children more. You can be a father without the marriage if it is not working for you.
I think Vanessa should have left when the rape happened. Why do women sell their self respect for money. There is never enough money.
AMEN!
I would think that a cheating father with sons would be setting a worse example as they grow up seeing their father disrespect the most important woman in his life, so they may think it is OK to disrepect the women in their lives as they grow up, including their sisters.
But bottom line, cheating is bad, with children especially, no matter the sex of the kids.
ITA!!
“I don’t know I just hate when men cheat and have young daughter. Teaches them that men don’t respect women”
As the daughter of a philandering politician ITA. I’ve definitely learned not to trust men in general. After all, if our father can’t remain faithful why would our boyfriends/husbands. My poor husband often pays for the sins of my cheating father. *
* yes, I’m aware this sounds totally dysfunctional and I probably need therapy. LOL
So sorry, Mort. And I completely understand. But my military (birth) father gave my mum a pre-cancerous STD.
NOT OK, NEVER OK.
It breeds a distrust of men in our psyches and can lead to a lifetime of poor choices (in men) and heartache.
Oh no Bells! Your poor mom. You’re right, it’s never ok. I’ve often told my husband that I’ll live in a cardboard box in an ally with our two kids, before I would live in a house with a cheating @sshole. Although, more likely than not, he would be the one in the box and I’d be the one in the nice warm house 😉
This woman is soooo tacky. She plays in the same Snookie’s league. Money doesn’t buy class and style.
I know it’s pointless to say this, but I’ll never understand how a man that has daughters can treat women so poorly. How will he feel when someone treats his daughters the same way?
because there are men whose brain is in their penises
LOL love it…
The comments on MediaTakeOut, the first to break the story TWO DAYS AGO (see that’s why we NEED urban blogs too LOL) are out of pocket. I rarely read them because shit up in their is not for faint of heart. LOL. But the minute she divorced his ass, and I waiting for the ten year mark along with the rest of those keeping tabs, I knew this was gonna get racial real quick.
And they wilding out in the worst way over there on these blogs. Black men dogging out black women; black women happy that Kobe is gonna get taken to the cleaners, because of his “self-hatred.”; a thesis on why we “need to stick to our own kind.” Man, it’s sad and funny. But the debate is always on and poppin and people are just exploding about it.
I for one think Kobe definitely has a type because the chick he supposedly has been cheating on with is Natalie Borciaga or something to that affect. She was in the Jamie Foxx, Fall For Your Type Video (IRONIC much?!) and he was allegedly dropping seven figures in gifts on her. She’s also a Playboy model and she looks like Vanessa, but maybe a bit prettier.
But look, Kobe met Vanessa Lane when she was 17 when she was trying be to be a video ho and her family, put the Mexican law on the table 16 century style and her father told Kobe since he screwed her, he better marry her ass or he was gonna get his handed to him in the courts, which makes me think she closer to having just turned 16.
Anyway, she knew and knows Kobe was a player and she stood by him through that bogus rape incident because she knew that leaving to early would mean less guap for her. Now this non-educated bimbo is gonna be set for life because she was smart enough to hold on. I don’t know whether to clap or to groan.
Amen! Been reading MTO since it happened. What a blow up! That sight is so racially charged, it’s crazy. But yeah, co-sign.
Dumb bitch is so set for life. And the rape thing was bogus and never even went to trial, he is NOT a rapist.
BTW, if you think this is limited to ballers, may I introduce you to most of the Docs I worked for???
Bitch is about to get paid in full. Good thing she is going to have $$ because she her face looks like her ass.
Oh, please. She’s gorgeous.
Why is she “smart”?
She could have walked away with dignity years ago with millions of dollars and not to stand by a guy when a woman claimed he raped her.
She showed that she was a gold-digger even when she already had millions of his earnings without the 10 year mark?
I can’t see why would anyone see her as smart.
IF she treats herself with so little respect, that’s telling.
Their marriage was a mess from jump and she only stuck around to make 10 years and get half of everything.
Kobe’s a phenomenal basketball talent but his ass is weird as hell.
She’d have always gotten half. The Magic # 10 is just about duration of spousal support. (Under 10 years is “half the duration of the marriage.” 10 years + is unlimited, or until re-marriage.)
There is a picture of this “allege” jumpoff over at thedirtyDOTcom… and she is a pretty girl. The Dirty has been talking about Kobe’s cheating for awhile. Way before this announced divorce.
But I agree Vanessa knew she needed to hit that 10 year mark. And since Kobe never learned to keep it in is pants… he will now give her half.
He seems to have a type…dark haired beauties. I’m going to assume Vanessa is not a gold-digger, and did not wait for a ten year mark to divorce. I think she might have turned a blind eye to the occasional flings with groupies, but couldn’t stomach that Kobe has a full time mistress, one who rivals her in terms of having a career, status, and who is equally beautiful. Someone he turns to not just for sex, but for companionship or conversation. Wives might tolerate casual sex, but they rarely tolerate a mistress because it means that they have to share their husband’s heart, not just his body. Just my two cents on a painful situation. I mean, they dated since high school. To say she was only in it for money seems silly to me because she dated him BEFORE he acquired his wealth and fame.
Also, who you are in your teens, which is when they met, is not who you are when you hit your late twenties/early thirties. They probably outgrew each other long ago, but decided to stay in the marriage for reasons only they know.
Anyway,I wish her the best. She’s gorgeous, has beautiful kids, and is wealthy. I’m sure she will find a man who will treat her with respect and dignity in no time.
No, SHE was in high school. Kobe turned pro at 18 so when he got with her, he was already famous and making money with the Lakers and with his various endorsements. She knew exactly who he was and his whole family was opposed to the relationship from the beginning. His family even refused to go to the wedding. Back then, folks were saying that she was such a bad student, she couldn’t even get through cosmetology school. Marrying a rich guy was her best option for a good life, but she’s paid for it by marrying a man who doesn’t have a faithful bone in his body (well, he’s been faithful to the Lakers).
She was 18 when they got married. He’s 4 years older than she. So how old was she when they met?
I understand she barely had a high-school education and no career to speak of, but she could have left when the whole “rape of the hotel maid” (or whomever) occurred, rather than trading her soul for a ring and the endless alimony if she stuck for 10 years.
It’s called “moral fortitude” and “having standards,” something some of us value more than the almighty buck. But what does one expect of a rap video girl?
It seems so sick and cynical to get married, start a family and stick it out 10 years for a payoff. And people say same-sex marriage demeans the institution!
She is still so young, she has the rest of her life ahead of her. It’s the kids who are going to suffer.
Of course, his side-dish is a “best friend” of Lardassian Kartrashian. But I digress…
Like I said yesterday, Kobe married Vanessa when she was 18 (they were together prior to that) and I think she hung in after the cheating and everything else to “get her pay-off.”
I mean, what talent does she have, other than spending money? She was a “video girl” & aspiring “model” but that’s about it, as far as I know.
Yeah, she hung in so she’d never have to work or re-marry. She can boff whomever she chooses for the rest of her life, and she’ll still receive spousal since she stuck until the “magic number 10.” AND she gets HALF!
Why do all basketball wives look like they belong in a rap video? Even the decent ones make themselves look hoochie
(See my comment above)
I’ll never understand why she stuck around so long, maybe she truly loved him. Since they never had a preNup anyway… its one of the reasons him and his family stopped talking after he married Vanessa.
Carla is NOT classy nor smart, she has been KK’s lap dog for yrs and finally was put on to produce that slime show.
Carla is known for being the other woman, Kobe is NOT the only money man she has been with…trust, and she is all about gifts and money. Kobe is her 3rd athlete and she even snuck around w/Floyd Mayweather–yeech
I remember the house that another famous athlete put her up in and he had all of his “parties” there, until his wife found out about it BUT its said, she’s still up to her old tricks.
hoe hopping.
Kobe won’t end up w/her. it will be a fresh face, someone younger.
The rapist and the gold digger. Too bad kids are involved.
If I’m to believe Kobe — which I don’t — he consensually had sex from behind over a chair with an employee who’d just showed him a hotel room.
And his wife forgave that “as not rape but an infidelity” so everyone could explain the DNA on the victim, but she couldn’t take these infidelities where no one’s crying rape. But it’s days after she becomes eligible for a lifetime of purple diamonds.
Hope the kids have good role models elsewhere.
There should be some kind of mandatory psych evaluation for every athlete who wants to get married. I see why girls marry them, but I just can’t understand why they get married or have kids.
She’s about 8 years too late. I know a lot of women are like, “she’s so smart for waiting to get more money” but I’d have more respect for her if she went the Elin route and dumped his cheating (and possibly rapist) ass. She may be richer, but she’s still a fool.
Agree. 8 years is a bit long to stick it out and she would have gotten a lot of money anyway.
Unless, she stayed because she did really love him, of course.
I don’t think Vanessa wants the public’s respect. She wanted the whole enchilada. His money.
He raped that girl in summer 2003. Vanessa has JUST had his kid at the beginning of the year. Who sticks with that unless it’s about money. She would have gotten money had she left then but with everyone saying and believing it was rape she probably said I’m getting HALF now.
I think she was dumb enough to believe it was simply cheating with ‘logic argument’ of “He’s an athlete! Why would he rape someone when consenting women fall all over them?”
She files days before Christmas? Would January had hurt her? He cheated before? That proved how calculating she was. Christmas time divorce filing????
My first thought was “must have been 10 years” also. That’s the only explanation I can think of for why she stayed before and left now. In some way, I want to give her props. That kind of revenge planning is calculated. No Elin Woods beating a car with a golf club type stuff here. Kobe deserves to lose that money.
It’s weird how so much of the reporting of the Elin-Tiger Woods divorce was centered how the millions would ease the pain, while the spin on Kobe-Vanessa is that despite the millions involved it’s really about the infidelities. Is it a case of Vanessa leaking info to TMZ whereas Elin didn’t? As far as I can see, if there’s one sports wife who wasn’t a complete gold-digger, it was Elin- she was pissed!
The only thing that surprises me about all this is that Kobe didn’t file for divorce before the 10-year mark. He couldn’t keep it in his pants but I guess he just assumed that Vanessa would put up with his cheating indefinitely. Let’s face it, Vanessa made it very clear from the start that Kobe could buy his forgiveness no matter what he did so the divorce no doubt caught him by surprise.
Personally, I have no respect for either of them. Vanessa will get a bigger settlement for not dumping him in 2003, but the lesson for her daughters is that there is no right or wrong, just money. Money, money, money.
I feel bad for the kids. Their parents have totally *&^%’d up values.
I have to laugh at all of the self-righteous po’ folks here. I was married for years to a cheater, I knew about the cheating as one always does, but stayed anyway. No multi-million dollar payday when I finally got out!
People stay for various reasons, love, security, the kids, the lifestyle, self-worth, whatever. I can’t judge her for whatever her choices have been, but c’mon, ten years is not a long time to reap that kind of reward!! If the scenario was spelled out for most of you, you’d do it.
Talk about first world problems, she lives in the lap of luxury, wants for nothing, is not in any physical danger, and you judge her for staying? Lol!
Re judging her for staying amid the rape allegations, would you jump ship on your partner at the first sign of adversity? Shame on you.
You don’t think you should have gotten out earlier, when someone clearly does not respect you?
from my own experience, you stay trying and hoping they will grow up or change…it doesnt always happen…that’s the sad part…if everyone jumped at the first sign of trouble then…
From what I’ve heard, she’s a stone cold bitch – but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love her husband. I don’t understand why so many people think it’s wrong to at least TRY to save your relationship after infidelities. For all that he’s screwing around, he probably loves her too – and that would make a woman want to stay, at least for awhile.
Not surprised. I never got why women are sometimes afraid of being dumped for a younger woman because if your husband is a cheater he most likely just wants that younger woman as a side piece. Most of the time, cheating men don’t want to leave their wives and get a new piece every year like George Clooney. They want stability, the same woman to marry, raise their kids with, and live with all their lives and then they want some whore on the side. I’m sure Kobe fit into this mold. While Vanessa is a class A gold digger, I do think she never had a chance…She was only 16 or 17 when she got with Kobe, so she never really had a chance to mature or grow up. Kobe is a total scumbag but I never thought he was a rapist (I think other girls would have come forward if he was). I do think Kobe really loved Vanessa, but I also think he didn’t love her enough to stop sticking his dick in multiple women. Apparently, the gossip I read somewhere was that what broke the camel’ s back was that he’d been carrying on with this Carla for years…Vanessa could deal with the physical infidelity when it was just random hos, but the emotional infidelity and the long term affair was the last straw.
Comparing Vanessa and Elin to one another is crazy. We need to understand the cultural differences here and I’m not just talking about race and ethnicity because that is obvious; it’s also about the profession their exes are in. Elin, number one, was always going to have the sympathy of the public because of her background. She is a European woman with some higher education under her belt and for some reason she is considered beautiful. I don’t see it, but let’s just say she is all of that. She is a prize for any man with her Nordic looks and seemingly sophisticated gloss and carries herself with all the dignity and assurance that her place in life is to be on highest peak one can obtain for themselves. That’s not a dig, her parents raised her right. And Tiger was a freaking golfer. When I think golfer, sex addict du jour is not the first thing that comes to my mind. They are supposed to be the fuddy duddy stable dudes of the competitive sport’s world. I mean, this shocked almost everyone who wasn’t in the loop. And that’s mostly because how Tiger marketed himself as this “Cabolasian” ball of super perfection and Mr. Clean sparkling. Elin did not have to stick around for that shit because as all of his sins came into light, with each new girl, the world turned on Tiger Woods in a way that put her in full control of negotiations. She could walk away with her dignity intact because he was gonna give her whatever the hell she wanted. He had no choice. Elin is just as much of game player digger than the average young female who snags an athlete. She knew about his cheating-maybe not in its entirety-we didn’t know. She just doesn’t get called that because of “what” she is.
Vanessa is a different story. She was this dumb bimbo at 17 with a mestiza Mexican heritage who met Kobe while she was on a Snoop video set. I am saying this as a Latina: her family was indulging in the stereotype of young girls being groomed to be some baller’s wifey before 20 using her body and looks. I’m from Philly and I see this type of shit all the time within our community with girls as young as 15 being allowed to date older men with money, legit or ill-gotten, so they can be “taken care of” and getting pregnant to seal the deal. Vanessa has no education to fall back on and no high connections (not trying to sound all Austen-like) to use in this time of need. Why? Because while golf is a wealthy man’s sport and requires a diamond class broad, ballers are the ghetto rich cousins like the NFL, etc. The type of chicks they date and wife are usually video hos, young chicks with no education beyond high school, or Playboy center folds. In particularly, the African American professional baller is going to choose that type of woman nine times out of ten in this generation. They want what looks good and what may also give them a leg up socially (and they think ditching black girls will give them a leg up). And honestly, WE EXPECT ALL BALLERS to cheat. We don’t feel sorry for the wives because we feel they know what they are getting into and I hate to say it but a lot of AAs feel even less sorry for them if they ain’t packing melanin. When Kobe was in Philly he was living in Lower Merion, his high school girlfriend was ride or die for him and he ditched her the first chance he got, his parents not at all happy because she was true blue. They did not want him marrying Vanessa because basically she was beneath them. His family is educated, well travelled and were respected members of their community. He downgraded. But he got caught up. So yes, Vanessa may be basic but she had no choice but to wait for the ten year mark because she had no real bargaining chips except for his wandering peen. But she couldn’t use that to her full advantage until she put in her decade’s duty. It bes that way sometimes.
Your comment is almost an article, which is good since the content is interesting and well-written.
I don’t read dissertation posts but I HAD to read this because from the first words it was SPOT ON.
People will always sympathize with Elin because the media is obsessed with blonds. It’s just true.
Kobe, like a LOT of AA athletes wanted an exotic looking women so they don’t care what class the woman is from. Look at OJ back in the day. Heisman, excellent NFL player then he divorces his first wife to get a blond waitress? Kobe picked Vanessa despite her having no education whatsoever all for her looks. Kobe was pretty middle class and we basically went to Waffle House and picked up the hostess and put a ring on it.
Look at Reggie Bush. How in the hell did he pick and want Kim Kardashian for years? They don’t care about the women being trashy. Ballers just want exotic looks when the women are basically pure trashy under those clothes and makeup.
You are right and it’s sad but I DO think these ballers think by ditching the black girls they get a leg up and doors open more when at least one half of the couple is exotic and not of an sort of African decent. At least not visibly noticeable.
I’ve never liked Vanessa – anyone who would marry that ass and stick with him is a gold digger – but she was 16 when they hooked up. Of course she had no class. I don’t see him having any class, either.
Very well put and sadly very accurate.
While I agree that people sympathize with Elin and not with Vanessa, I disagree with your some of your reasoning. It has nothing to do with Elin being a blond. Elin just portrayed herself as a classy, educated, woman with grace and dignity. There are no reports of Elin being a bitch. (In fact, I had a friend who dated Tiger’s friend and said Elin was always very sweet). I’ve never read a single good thing about Vanessa. She is obviously beautiful, but by all accounts, she is a class A bitch. She cussed out a reporter in front of her kids, abused her maid, and is just trashy. And that is the reason people don’t relate to her. Not because she’s a Latina or a brunette.
It’s always the same with those athletes.
Had pinned my hopes on Tiger Woods before, but we all know how that turned out.
Vanessa has very striking features, she could be a supermodel.
**but his latest affair was the straw that broke the camel’s back … and she felt she needed to finally end the marriage.**
Nah, she just knew she’d hit the 10 year home free mark. If she cared she would have walked after 2003.
This is no Tiger though, this guy has always been an ass. She did her time, and she is done. It’s not the same level of scandal.
Ironically, Vanessa looks a lot like Kim K (before the Kat-look).
His name begins with “K”. Which can only mean one thing…
OH, dear Gawd! If you kurse us with a Kobe Kartrashian I will NEVER forgive you!
(If that happens, may a thousand water buffalo piss on your clean white sheets. *turns head, spits*)
No worries Bella!
1. Kobe is too worried about his image to hook up with the famewhore.
2. He is a faithful Laker and knows how much the team disliked Lamar’s step into reality. Hence Dallas.
3. The Buss family is too classy and private to allow the franchise player to hook up with a urinal.
Breathe easy my dear. 🙂
Too bad he’s a damned cheater-I always refer to him as my other husband. I probably spend more time with Kobe than my hubby.
Watching games, you dirty minded girls!
Definitely not the same level of scandal. Kobe was expected to cheat and no one cares about Vanessa because no one thinks she’s worth anything based on how she snagged him and because she is not an “Elin”. That’s just the reality of the situation. The best thing she did for herself was to have babies which definitely, and especially in Cali, ensuring further comfort and now she’s good to go. If she was barren, HE would have divorced her a long time ago.
She knew and knows what she is doing and you better believe her family was in her ear every step of the way guiding her through all of this.
Yup. In the sports world, a black athlete could go from dating Michelle Obama to Courtney Stodden and under the radar everyone would treat it as a step up. The quality of woman isn’t ever an issue, it’s just ‘only take her home if she can’t use your comb’, and you’re laughing. Sports!
I wonder how the union would have been treated if Tiger had married Vanessa rather than Elin–you know, after we put the crosses out? If Kobe had been married to Elin, I think the internet would have blown up with tirades about how this is proof of the ‘triflin” nature of black men who have been ‘brainwashed’ and can’t wait to prove their status by ditching the black women to whom it should ‘rightfully’ go. Also, there would be all sorts of proofs positive of the deservedness of black women’s unchallenged rank of ‘last’ in terms of desireability to all and sundry and for every reason imaginable. Extra points for obesity and baby momma inclusions. Unfortuneately, every thousand posts or so of this ilk would start making sense.
Um, you’ve come a long way, nappy!
In any case, I will support you, o dear
I hate Kobe. Such a scumbag. Way to be a positive male role model for your little girls, you punk.
Even million dollar rings couldn’t convince this woman to stay with an admitted rapist. What was really disgusting was that sports fans supported him and trashed the victim, forcing her to flee the state.
Did I miss something? When did Kobe admit to raping that chick. He always maintained the sex was consensual. Right?
don’t cheat!!!!
so tired.
A-N-N-N-D now he’s in serious trouble. Vanessa hired “disso queen” Laura Wasser.
Original Tiffany – Did you see my comments about what my friend’s wife (married to a Laker) had to say about Vanessa?
@brenda this is not about who is nice, but the politics of sports, race, couples and how these scandals play in the media. by all accounts Elin knew Tiger had cheated before and she stayed with him. the reason i wrote what i did is because people were comparing Van with Elin and saying she left and didn’t put put with Tiger’s wandering peen. That’s not true.
Vanessa is many things but she is private and keeps her mouth shut for ten years just as Elin did for however long they were together. As sweet as she is doesn’t put her above jockeying and maximizing a great divorce package for herself. Love is great, but if she is an educated woman, she had her plan together and on standby. But she didn’t have to even try. Tiger did it all for her and her being “blonde” does play some part in it from a public sympathy perspective even if some don’t want to see it because Tiger was married to what is viewed as the paragon of what supposedly makes a woman desirable in carriage and LOOKS. He had no “reason” to cheat and with trash at that. Oh it mattered.
For example, Michael Jordan’s ex-wife is educated, classy and by all accounts a great mom. Not only was he a cheater, but the media knew and covered up his dirt for him. Same with Magic. What’s the difference? Their wives were black and so it didn’t matter.
It does not matter with Kobe and Vanessa. It’s hardly being mentioned because their being together is not as taboo. He will not lose sponsorships. His rape trial was more polarizing for all the obvious reasons.
Preach it. We can’t Pollyanna ourselves out of recognizing these long-preserved dynamics. Pigment determines sympathy and to say that that is not the case is willful ignorance. It’s simply not true.
I see your point, but I think the reason Tiger’s situation got so much attention was because it was completely unexpected. For the most part, the public thought of him as this nice, almost nerdy guy. No one expected that Tiger had all these women on the side. With Kobe, there have been rumors for years. I don’t think anyone would be surprised to hear that Kobe was unfaithful, especially after the scandal in 2003. That’s why Tiger’s situation got more attention. I just don’t think it was about race. Maybe I’m just naive.
You are right, people knew Kobe was a dog. But basketball players in general are considered dogs. Still if Elin was in Vanessa’s place the backlash would be something terrible.
But this also has to do with Woods and Bryant’s backgrounds. In the public eye, Kobe is a very talented black athlete with a good family background. There is not getting around what he is though which is black. There is only so much access money will buy him and as a black man he knows this. All of those athletes do.
With Tiger, he was able to fudge the lines with his “Cabolasian” nonsense, diluting his blackness and clinging to his acceptable “otherness” in a sport that had like no black figures. He was let into the club, and then he betrayed the members by humiliating one of their own. I find that in itself hilarious since all the “elite” do is sleep around on one another and engage in shady shit all day everyday. LOL.
And the media knows this.
Tiger’s athlete buddy’s knew he was a dog too but like the fraternity they are, they share women and secrets. His secret was almost safe, except for the fact that one tab reporter had been tracking him and Rachel U. for almost a full year from Australia to Las Vegas. They were going to bust this story not because of the “shock” and sensationalism that would occur. The media think they are so slick. LOL.
I don’t think you’re being naive, you’re probably just a good person who doesn’t think race is important.
Birds of a feather… whore-out together… and um.. ‘for why?’ that’s always been mine… RAWR!