Vanessa Bryant's attorney demands an answer for alleged photo sharing
Vanessa Bryant demands answers from Nike after photos of a shoe designed to honour her late daughter, Gianna Bryant, surfaced online. On Wednesday, Vanessa reposted the Twitter users photo with the shoe she designed in tribute of Gianna, along with a note explaining that the sneaker hadn't been approved to be made and -- since she decided not to renew her late husband Kobe Bryant's five-year post-retirement endorsement extension with Nike after it expired on April 13 -- should not have been sold.
"This is a shoe I worked on in honour of my daughter, Gianna," Vanessa's note. reads. "It was going to be called the MAMBACITA shoe as an exclusive black and white colourway on her daddy's shoes. I picked the colours in honour of her uniform, the number 2 she wore just like her uniform, the inside pattern, Kobe and Gigi on the back in gold instead of Kobe's signature, the inside shoe details (butterfly, wings, halo), etc." "The MAMBACITA shoes are NOT approved for sale," she continued.
"I wanted it to be sold to honour my daughter with ALL of the proceeds benefitting our @mambamambacitasports foundation, but I did not re-sign the Nike contract to sell these shoes. (The MAMBACITA shoes were not approved to be made in the first place.) Nike has NOT sent any of these pairs to my girls and me." Vanessa questioned how someone possesses the shoes when they shouldn't be available to purchase anywhere. She also wondered how someone else has the shoes she designed in her daughter's memory when their family doesn't even have them. ET has reached out to Nike for comment. "I do not know how someone else has their hands on shoes I designed in honour of my daughter, Gigi and we don't," she wrote. "I hope these shoes did not get sold.
@nike." Vanessa also shared several screenshots and posts seemingly confirming the sneakers' sale to her Instagram Story, including a photo of Milwaukee Bucks player Khris Middleton wearing the sneakers during Game Four of the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series on May 29. In April, Vanessa said that although she and Kobe's estate ended her late husband partnership with Nike, she would "continue to fight" to allow fans to wear her late husband's products. "My hope will always be to allow Kobe's fans to get and wear his products.
I will continue to fight for that. Kobe's products sell out in seconds. That says everything," she said. "I was hoping to forge a lifelong partnership with Nike that reflects my husband's legacy. We will always do everything we can to honour Kobe and Gigi's legacies. That will never change."
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