Every star has their dog day, but few endured the kind of scandal that NBA star Kobe Bryant endured in 2003 after he was charged with the sexual assault of a hotel worker, leading to the loss of numerous fans and endorsement deals. It’s been a long, hard road for Bryant to restore his image and his career, and after years of remaining relatively mum on the issue, Bryant is finally speaking about his rape scandal saying it made him a better person.
“It challenges who you are as a person, not only individually, but as a family. It was extremely difficult and you kind of had to do some soul searching, because you are fighting numerous battles at the same time, and you’re just trying to figure your way through all of this mess,” Bryant revealed in an interview on “In Depth With Graham Bensinger.”
The mess Bryant refers to almost destroyed his career and his personal life after he admitted to having sex with a then-19-year-old Eagle, Colorado, hotel worker Katelyn Faber. He denied that he ever assaulted her. Bryant’s legal issues finally came to an end when the case was dropped after Faber refused to testify in court and a separate civil case was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.
“The only thing you can do is put one foot in front of the other, and there’s nothing else you can do. There’s times where it just seems like days are just endless, like this is never going to end,” said Bryant.
“This feeling, this dark time is just never going to be over,” he continued. “Once you go through something like that, you can’t help but be different. You can’t help but have a better sense of who you are.”
But Bryant didn’t get through his ordeal on his own. Be reveals that he received support from fellow troubled athlete, NFL star Ray Lewis, who faced charges in connection with a January 2000 murder that were later dismissed.
“Ray and I have had conversations about that, he is a good friend of mine and we’ve had that type of conversation. Other players can’t relate to that. That’s real pressure, that’s life pressure,” explained Bryant. “We talked about his time and how he managed to get out of it.”
Welll, we’re glad Bryant took home some great life lessons from his ordeal. You can check out some other celebrities who’ve been accused of rape below. – nicholas robinson
