The Denver Post
Bryant accuser, papers may have settled
Friday, January 28, 2005 -
The woman accusing Kobe Bryant of rape reached a money settlement with the owners of The Globe and other tabloids that printed her picture and stories about her hotel encounter with the NBA star, Bryant's attorneys said Thursday.
The tabloid publisher American Media Inc. agreed to pay the woman an undisclosed sum, according to court documents filed by the defense in the woman's civil lawsuit against Bryant. Bryant's lawyers, who did not disclose how they found out about the alleged settlement, said the woman's attorneys should have notified them. Lin Wood, an attorney representing the woman, did not immediately return after-hours phone messages Thursday. Calls to American Media Inc., based in Boca Raton, Fla., went unanswered Thursday night. The woman filed a federal lawsuit against Bryant in August, three weeks before prosecutors dropped their criminal case against him. The lawsuit seeks unspecified money damages from Bryant for alleged emotional injuries the woman has suffered since their encounter at the Lodge and Spa at Cordillera, an upscale hotel near Vail, in June 2003. The Los Angeles Lakers player said the sex was consensual. Information about the alleged settlement with American Media came in a court filing supporting Bryant's claim that media organizations and other outside sources were at least partly responsible for the woman's alleged injuries. The woman has denied the claim, saying Bryant is trying to shift responsibility away from himself. |