Archive for October 20th, 2009

Meet Vanessa Laine Bryant, wife of NBA all-star Kobe Bryant. In November 1999, 21 year old  Kobe  met 17 year old Vanessa Laine while she was working as a background dancer on the Tha Eastsidaz music video “G’d Up”. Kobe was in the same building working on his debut musical album, which was never released.

Peep the video below of Vanessa as a background dancer in the video G’d Up .

After meeting in the same studio, the two began dating and became engaged just six months later in May 2000, while Vanessa was still a senior at Marina High School in Huntington Beach, California. To avoid media scrutiny, she finished high school through independent study.

Vanessa and Kobe  married on April 18, 2001 in Dana Point, California. Neither Kobe’s parents, his two sisters, longtime advisor and agent Arn Tellem, nor his Los Angeles Laker teammates attended. Bryant’s parents were opposed to the marriage for a number of reasons. Reportedly Kobe’s parents had problems with him marrying so young, especially to a woman who was not African-American.  This disagreement resulted in an estrangement period of over two years, which ended when Kobe had his first daughter.

The couple’s first child, a daughter named Natalia Diamante Bryant, was born on January 19, 2003. The birth of Natalia influenced Bryant to reconcile his differences with his parents. Vanessa Bryant suffered a miscarriage due to an ectopic pregnancy in the spring of 2005. Their second daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, was born on May 1, 2006. Gianna was born six minutes ahead of former teammate Shaquille O’Neal’s daughter Me’arah Sanaa, who was born in Florida.

Vanessa Cornejo Urbieta Laine Bryant, born May 5, 1982, is of Mexican and Irish descent. Both of her parents are of Mexican descent. Vanessa was born in Huntington Beach, California. Vanessa’s parents divorced when she was just a baby, after which her father had moved to Baja, Mexico. Vanessa’s mother remarried in 1990 to Stephen Laine. In high school Vanessa legally changed her family name to Laine even though Stephen never adopted her.

Kobe Bryant’s Sexual Assault Case:

In the summer of 2003, the sheriff’s office of Eagle, Colorado arrested Bryant in connection with an investigation of a sexual assault complaint filed by 19-year old hotel employee Katelyn Faber. Bryant had checked into The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera hotel in Eagle, Colorado in advance of undergoing knee surgery nearby. Faber accused Bryant of raping her in his hotel room the night before Bryant was to have the procedure.

Kobe admitted to the sexual encounter with his accuser Katelyn Faber, but denied her sexual assault allegation.

Peep the video below of  Kobe speaking publicly about the accusation with Vanessa standing by his side.

The accusation tarnished Kobe’s reputation, as the public’s perception of Bryant plummeted, and his endorsement contracts with McDonald’s and Nutella were terminated. Sales for Bryant’s replica jersey fell significantly.

However, in September 2004 the assault case was dropped by prosecutors after Faber refused to testify in the trial. Afterward, Bryant agreed to apologize to Faber for the incident. Katelyn Faber filed a separate civil lawsuit against Bryant, which the two sides settled with the specific terms of the settlement being undisclosed to the public.

A fight broke out between a neighbor of Balloon Boy’s Richard Heene and some members of the media.

40 Year Professional Gemmologist reports:

Black diamond is in most respects the same as other diamonds only it contains so much included material (mostly graphite) that it appears black. It has to be cut using exactly the same methods as other diamonds. There has been a fashion fad in the last few years for black diamonds but there are many other black stones which work just as well. In the past black diamond crystals were just thrown in with all the other industrial stones that were mined. It has little value and the only serious cost is involved with the cutting. A price of around $60 per carat is about fair. Do not think of it in terms of an investment as its only value is as a fashion fad which will not last and when the fad is over you will never find anyone to to buy the stones off you.

You might have already seen the clip of the pigeon on the field with the Raiders kickoff team during Sunday’s Raiders/Eages game,  but ESPN’s NFL Primetime took it to the next level.