Princewill Pius
Vanessa Bryant chose the date for the memorial — Feb. 24, 2020 — to represent both Gigi’s (2) and Kobe’s (24) jersey numbers, as well as the years Kobe and Vanessa were married (20). Yet, while she wound up giving a heartfelt and well-prepared speech, friends and family weren’t sure if Vanessa would address the crowd or not until talk show host Jimmy Kimmel introduced her.
According to E!‘s source, Vanessa gave Kimmel a “signal” as he presented a video montage about Kobe. “She, of course, was prepared with her speech either way, but keeping her tentative was a matter of how emotional she was and how comfortable she felt in that moment to make the speech,” the source noted. “Nobody knew if she was going to do it until [Jimmy] actually announced her.”
Another source told People that Vanessa “spent a lot of time on that, to say the exact right thing. It took everything she had.” “She’s exhausted but she knows that after [the memorial] she can rest,” the insider added. “She is never alone. There is always someone with her: family, friends, people who really care for her. She has times of weakness like you would expect, but she’s also very strong. She’s very determined that she will raise the other daughters in a way that they will be okay. And that she will be okay.”
Written by: Nicki
