19 April 2023 , 07:57
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Vanessa Bryant has been remembering her late husband on what would have been their 22nd wedding anniversary.
Kobe Bryant 's widow took to social media to share a sweet tribute to the late basketball star - with her fans and famous friends rushing to send their well wishes and messages of love.
The world was stunned in January 2020 when Kobe, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others died in a helicopter cr ash in Calabasas, California.
Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe was just 41 at the time of his death.
Celebrating a fourth wedding anniversary without her husband on Tuesday, Vanessa shared a snap of herself and Kobe enjoying a holiday in Europe prior to his untimely death with her Instagram followers.
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Vanessa Bryant lost her husband and daughter Gianna in the devastating helicopter crash (Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)"Happy anniversary baby. I love you @kobebryant [love heart emoji] #22," Vanessa captioned the picture of herself and her late husband posing together in Florence, Italy.
Singer Ciara was one of the first to comment on the grieving star's post, telling Vanessa: "Happy Anniversary! Love you V Boo."
"A love that is thorough and true and will continue through infinity," Adrienne Bosh added, as a fan wrote: "This photo put a huge smile on my face! Happy Anniversary!!"
Vanessa has since limited who can comment on the Instagram post.
Vanessa's friends flooded her tribute with messages of love and support (Instagram)Kobe and Vanessa first met in November 1999 on the set of a music video at a time when the late sports star was 20-years-old and Vanessa was 17.
The couple went on to tie the knot on April 18, 2001 at St. Edward the Confessor Catholic Church in Dana Point, California and welcomed four daughters into the world together; Natalia, 20, Bianka, six, Capri, three, and the late Gigi, who died at the age of 13 alongside her father in the 2020 helicopter crash.
Vanessa's Instagram tribute to her husband on Tuesday follows the mum-of-four coming to a $28.85million agreement with Los Angeles County last month over the leaked photos from the crash which took the lives of her husband, their daughter and seven other victims.
The settlement also includes the $15million which a jury awarded Vanessa, 40, back in August.
Vanessa and her late husband arriving at the Oscars in 2018 (AFP via Getty Images)
The couple with two of their four daughters in 2017 (WireImage)In a statement shared on March 1, Vanessa’s lawyer Luis Li said: "Today marks the successful culmination of Mrs. Bryant’s courageous battle to hold accountable those who engaged in this grotesque conduct.
"She fought for her husband, her daughter, and all those in the community whose deceased family were treated with similar disrespect. We hope her victory at trial and this settlement will put an end to this practice."
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Following the devastating incident in Calabasas, California, Vanessa sued the L.A. County for taking pictures of the crash site and sharing them.
The complaint read: "The gratuitous images soon became talked about within the department, as deputies displayed them to colleagues in settings that had nothing to do with investigating the accident.
"One deputy even used his photos of the victims to try to impress a woman at a bar, bragging about how he had been at the crash site."
The lawsuit claimed that the "outrageous actions" by the Sheriff’s Department "caused Mrs. Bryant severe and emotional distress" in the wake of the disaster.