July 18th, 2003: Kobe Bryant charged

Ultimately the criminal charges against the NBA star were dismissed in 2004 after Kobe’s accuser refused to testify, during the pre-trial hearings the prosecutors accused the defense team of attempting to discredit his accuser and she received enormous media attention and even death threats.

On the day of the dismissal Bryant issued an apology to the woman for all the suffering she had endured saying…

“Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.”

A civil complaint was settled out of court in 2005.

The divisive and sordid case would dominate news cycles for the 3 years and would be revisited in detail during the #MeToo era as well as in the wake of Bryant’s death in 2020.

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