Update: Vanessa Bryant responded to her mother Sofia Laine's allegations that she made in a Univision TV interview about their fraught relationship.
Bryant told PEOPLE in a statement: "My husband and daughter passed away unexpectedly and yet my mom has the audacity to do an interview on TV talking negatively about me while shedding tears about a car and home that wasn’t in her name."
Since the tragic death of her daughter's husband, Kobe Bryant, and granddaughter, 13-year-old Gianna Bryant, Laine claimed that her daughter kicked her out of their family home and demanded she give up her car. Bryant countered that Laine has purposefully made it look like she is "without support," even though Bryant says she and her late husband have continued to financially support her mother, in addition to her monthly alimony, for 20 years.
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"Contrary to previous reports, she has not been physically present or emotionally supportive for my daughters and me after my husband and daughter passed away," Bryant continued. "Going forward, I see what is most important to my mom and it is beyond hurtful. I hope this public airing of our personal relations will stop here."
This story was originally published Sept. 22.
Tragic events can have devastating affects on families, and even threaten the very ties that bind them. Following the death of her husband Kobe Bryant and 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant, Vanessa Bryant is allegedly now at odds with her mother, Sofia Laine.
In a preview of her on-camera interview with Univision reporter Dave Valadez, Laine described being kicked out of the house after the death of Laine's son-in-law and granddaughter in January. She also claimed Vanessa demanded to have her car taken away from her.
'She told me, "I need you to get out of this house," Laine, in tears, said in Spanish. "She also told me that she wanted her car and she wants it now."
In January, NBA superstar Bryant and his daughter were two of nine killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California. He left behind his 38-year-old wife Vanessa, and three other daughters: 17-year-old Natalia, 3-year-old Bianka, and 7-month-old Capri. At the time of the crash, Kobe and Gianna were reportedly on their way to a travel basketball game, per ESPN.
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It's unclear what exactly spurred this alleged drama within the family, as it was reported back in February that Laine had been integral in supporting her daughter and her granddaughters in their collective grief over the past few months.
“[Vanessa] is incredibly close to her mom and her mom has been her rock throughout the past few weeks,” a source told US Weekly. “Her mom is always with her and the girls and she’s been keeping Vanessa strong and she’s the weight of her support system.”
Kobe had also posted a photo of the Bryant clan together as recently as last Thanksgiving, writing on Instagram that he was "thankful" for his family.
Laine's interview will be available soon in full on the show El Gorda y La Flaca on Univision. Vanessa has not yet responded to the allegations, and her Instagram profile continues to be set to private, a decision she made with her children earlier this year.
“Thank you all so much for all the love and support,” her daughter Natalia explained in a post back in June. “Many of you may have noticed the recent switch to a private account. My mom and I have had to unfortunately block fan pages because they keep reposting our pics. This makes it 10x harder to deal with our loss.”