Vanessa Bryant Responds To Her Mother's $5 Million Lawsuit

Vanessa Bryant is speaking out following news that her mother, Sofia Laine, has filed a lawsuit against her.

Source: Kevork Djansezian / Getty

While details of the lawsuit are sparse, Univision correspondent David Valadez posted the first page of her mother’s lawsuit, which shows Laine’s claims that she was never paid by Vanessa and her late husband, Kobe Bryant, for her services as a personal assistant and nanny to their four children.

The lawsuit also states that Kobe “promised to take care of [Sofia] for the rest of her life,” but goes on to say those promises were broken by his wife following his untimely passing.

A source close to the family provided BOSSIP with a statement from Vanessa Bryant, which combats the claims made by her mother in the lawsuit. Bryant provides more details about the suit, saying her mom is demanding “$5 million, a house, and a Mercedes SUV.”

She also denies her mother’s claims that she ever worked for her family as a nanny or a personal assistant, saying she simply, “watched our girls from time to time, just like most grandparents do.” She also denies the claims that Kobe promised to support Sofia for the rest of her life, adding, “he would be so disappointed in her behavior and lack of empathy.”

Read Vanessa’s full statement down below:

“My mother is continuing to try and find ways to extort a financial windfall from our family.  I have supported her for nearly twenty years, and she was never my or Kobe’s personal assistant, nor was she a nanny.  I have always been a stay-at-home mother and my husband and I were our daughter’s full-time care givers.  For nearly two decades, we arranged for my mother to live in our nearby properties, at no cost to her because she had claimed that she didn’t have any money to buy her own home after her divorce.  My husband and I felt it was best for her not to live in our home.  She watched our girls from time to time, just like most grandparents do. She did not take care of business issues or expenses. She was a grandmother who was supported by me and her son-in-law at my request.

She now wants to back charge me $96 per hour for supposedly working 12 hours a day for 18 years for watching her grandchildren. In reality, she only occasionally babysat my older girls when they were toddlers. As of ten years ago, our kids were full time students and athletes and I didn’t have another child until 2016.  Her claims are obviously false but I still tried, repeatedly, to work things out with my mother.  Contrary to what she’s saying, I haven’t left my children’s side since the accident except to visit the cemetery to make arrangements.  Earlier this year, I was looking for a new home for her and, a week later, she went on television and gave an interview disparaging our family and making false accusations while living rent-free in a gated apartment complex in Newport Coast. Even after that betrayal, I was willing to provide my mother with monthly support for the rest of her life and that wasn’t good enough. She, instead, contacted me through intermediaries (contrary to what she claims, my phone number hasn’t changed) and demanded $5 million, a house and a Mercedes SUV.  Because I did not give in to her hurtful threats and monetary requests, she has spiraled out of control and is making false and absurd claims.  She is now trying to get more money than my husband and I ever spent to provide for her while he was alive.  She has no regard for how this is affecting my children and me. She wants to live off of my daughters and me for the rest of her life while continuing to collect monthly alimony from her ex-husband since 2004.

My husband and I have never discouraged or kept her from providing for herself.  This lawsuit is frivolous, disgraceful, and unimaginably hurtful.  My husband never promised my mother anything, and he would be so disappointed in her behavior and lack of empathy.”

Now, nearly a year after the tragic helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna Bryant, and seven others, Matthew Mauser–who lost his wife, Christina Mauser, in the January 26 crash–is suing the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department over invasion of privacy.

According to reports from TMZ Sports, Matthew claims he has reason to believe members of the L.A. County Fire Dept. photographed the remains of his wife, later sharing them with people who had no involvement in the investigation.

Vanessa filed a similar lawsuit against the Los Angeles County sheriff back in September, claiming deputies shared unauthorized photos of the crash that killed her husband and their 13-year-old daughter.