Vanessa Bryant weeps on witness stand over leaked photos of Kobe Bryant's remains

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NTSB reveals cause of Kobe Bryant helicopter crash

The helicopter crash that left Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven others dead was likely caused by the pilot’s 'spatial disorientation,' officials said Tuesday.

Vanessa Bryant broke down in sobs in the witness box Friday as she described first learning that gruesome photos of her late husband, NBA great Kobe Bryant, who died in a 2020 helicopter crash with their 13-year-old daughter Gianna, had been circulated by first responders, according to a news report. 

Bryant, 40, said she was breastfeeding her youngest child when she read a news article about the leaked photos, the New York Post reported.

"I felt like I wanted to run down the block and scream," Bryant told jurors in at the civil trial in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. "I can’t escape my body. I can’t escape what I feel."

She was so emotional that she ran outside her house, so her older children wouldn't see her weep, she said. 

VANESSA BRYANT SOBS AND WALKS OUT OF LOS ANGELES COURTROOM AS WITNESS TESTIFIES

Vanessa Bryant testified Friday at her civil trial against Los Angeles County over leaked photos of Kobe Bryant and their daughter Gianna's remains. (Frank Micelotta)

The revelation that images of her loved ones' disfigured bodies had been shared and could one day surface online left her traumatized and with frequent panic attacks, she said. 

"I live in fear. I live in fear every day of seeing on social media and having these images pop up," she testified, according to the newspaper. She has never seen the disturbing photographs but worries her three surviving daughters might one day come across them.

GRISLY PHOTOS OF KOBE BRYANT'S REMAINS SHARED FOR ‘GOSSIP’: LAWYERS

Bryant is suing Los Angeles County for invasion of privacy over the breach and seeking millions in damages. The grisly photos were taken at the site of the Jan. 26, 2020, crash in Calabasas, California, which killed all nine people onboard. 

Vanessa Bryant, center, the widow of Kobe Bryant, leaves a federal courthouse in Los Angeles, Aug. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Bryant is a plaintiff alongside Christopher Chester, who lost his wife, Sarah Chester, and their daughter Payton, 13, in the collision.

Their lawyers have said that first responders shared the images as "visual gossip" with nearly 30 people – including at a bar, a banquet and while playing the videogame "Call of Duty." 

"I expected them to have more compassion, respect," Bryant said of the officials. "My husband and daughter deserved dignity."

Former Los Angeles Laker Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna perished in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, Jan. 26, 2020.  (Chris Carlson/AP)

She tearfully told the court that the body of the Los Angeles Laker legend was found on the day of the crash, while Gianna's remains weren't located until the next day.

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The only reason anyone was able to take photos of her daughter's remains, she said, was because they knew "her daddy couldn’t protect her because he was at the morgue."