Meet Vanessa Bryant's Mother Sofia Laine, Who Is Suing Her for a Reported $5M Financial Support

Vanessa Bryant's mother Sofia Laine is in the headlines for suing her bereaved daughter for millions, allegedly claiming she is owed the money in back pay.

Vanessa Bryant and her daughters have been quietly trying to pick up the threads of their lives after the devastating tragedy that claimed the lives of Kobe and Gianna Bryant in January 2020, supposedly with her mother Sofia Laine's support.

On December 16, 2020 Laine filed a lawsuit against her daughter claiming financial support from her daughter and compensation for years of what she claims was unpaid work as an "assistant and nanny."

WHO IS SOFIA LAINE

Laine shares Vanessa and her older daughter Sofia with her first ex-husband whom she divorced when her daughters were still young. She later remarried Stephen Laine in 1990 and divorced him in 2002.

In 1998, Laine was laid off from her job, and a back injury precluded another job so that when the divorce came four years later, she was destitute. At that time, her daughter and her son-in-law, Kobe stepped up.

Vanessa revealed that since Kobe and Gianna's death, her mother has been physically and emotionally absent from her life

CLOSE TO KOBE

All reports indicate that Kobe had a close relationship with Laine and that he got along better with his mother-in-law than with his own mother, Pamela Cox Bryant, who didn't approve of his marriage to Vanessa.

Since Laine's divorce, Kobe and Vanessa supported her financially, providing her with a home, a car, and an income -- something she now claims her daughter has stripped her of.

ALLEGATIONS

Laine stated in a TV interview that her daughter had kicked her out of the house she had shared with Kobe and reclaimed the car she was using. She also alleged that she had been the family's unpaid nanny for years.

Laine also claimed that Kobe had promised to "take care" of her for the rest of her life, to which end she is now suing his estate for $5 million. Vanessa has responded and vehemently denies her allegations.

RESPONSE

According to Vanessa, her mother is still living in an apartment the family owns and is receiving alimony. Furthermore, Vanessa said Laine had removed her jewelry and put her furniture into storage to appear destitute. She added:

“My mother is continuing to try and find ways to extort a financial windfall from our family (...) she was never my or Kobe’s personal assistant, nor was she a nanny."

Vanessa revealed that since Kobe and Gianna's death, her mother has been physically and emotionally absent from her life and that of her grandchildren and that her only concern is financial gain.