On Sunday night, former NBA superstar Kobe Bryant will be honored at the Academy Awards. Producers say he will be included in the show’s annual “In Memoriam” segment of the program, which commemorates the stars, directors, producers and other notables in the film industry who have died in the past year.
“We can confirm that Kobe Bryant will be acknowledged in the telecast,” the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight, Thursday.
This sort of tribute to Bryant seems necessary and appropriate, given that the NBA great was awarded an Oscar in 2018. The former Los Angeles Laker won for best animated short for “Dear Basketball,” which was based on a poem he wrote.
The tribute may also offer some comfort to Kobe’s family, friends and fans. His Jan. 26 death in a helicopter crash, which also killed his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others, was shocking, tragic and devastating. It prompted an outpouring of grief from people from around the world — from other sports stars and celebrities, presidents and ordinary people, including those who embraced his public image as a devoted husband and proud “girldad” father of four daughters.
But Bryant’s death at 41 also has sparked a fierce debate about if and how the public and media should discuss the complicated personal histories of widely beloved figures. As The Root reported, that debate reached a fever pitch this week when CBS This Morning anchor Gayle King was blasted by Snoop Dogg and others on social media for asking WNBA veteran Lisa Leslie, during an interview, about the 2003 sexual assault allegations against Bryant, her longtime friend.
Dogg went on an expletive-laced rant on Instagram, saying he expected better of King and accusing her and friend Oprah Winfrey of trying to denigrate the reputations of black men, The Root said. The rapper and TV personality also threateningly said King should “respect the family and back off.” He and others said people who loved Bryant shouldn’t have to be reminded of this dark period in his life, when they are just beginning to mourn. “Let the family mourn in peace,” Dogg wrote.
Judging from previous Oscars ceremonies, the In Memoriam tribute probably will only amount to a second or two, when Bryant’s name and image will likely appear in a montage that includes a number of other people.
But as short and uncomplicated as this tribute probably will be, the fact is, Bryant’s relationship with the Oscars wasn’t so simple.
Bryant has often said he was profoundly moved to receive the statute at the 2018 awards show. In an interview with USA Today days before his death, Bryant said that his Oscar and Sports Emmy for “Dear Basketball” were among the prizes he treasured most in a lifetime of accomplishments that included winning five NBA championships.
“They’re at the top for me,” Bryant told USA Today. “It’s not something that was expected. As a kid, you kind of have the goal of winning championships and all these sorts of things. … It wasn’t something that was thought of me winning an Oscar.”
But Bryant’s rape case also became a talking point during the 2018 awards season. The ceremony took place in the months after the launch of the #MeToo movement and Time’s Up initiative. Some #MeToo advocates questioned whether the 2003 case should have made him ineligible for the Oscar.
A 19-year-old hotel employee at a Colorado hotel accused Bryant of rape. Bryant denied the allegations, saying the encounter was consensual. The case was dropped after Bryant’s accuser refused to testify, though Bryan’s critics point to his defense team’s efforts to publicize his accuser’s promiscuity, her struggles with depression and her enthusiasm to meet a legend, according to the Washington Post.
Bryant and his accuser settled a civil suit out of court, and the athlete publicly apologized, saying “I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter.”
The 2003 allegations didn’t just resurface in the runup to the 2018 Oscars. They also may have come up later that year, when the Academy was reviewing whether he should be admitted to the elite organization, Variety reported.
Individuals who win Oscars are usually considered for inclusion. Bryant was considered, but the Academy’s governors ruled against it. Variety said there was speculation that the 2003 case played a role in Bryant being rejected, but that the governors also may have felt he needed to show a longer track record of working in the industry.
Since Bryant’s death, the 2003 case has been featured in a number of think pieces on his legacy.
“Ultimately, how we choose to look at Bryant — and it is a choice — is both an open and personal question,” Anne Branigan, a staff writer for The Root, wrote. But her essay argues that it “would be deeply dishonest” to say the case has no bearing on Bryant’s legacy or on how he fashioned his public persona in the years going forward.
The Academy has made its choice on how it wants to look at Bryant: It will honor the athlete-turned-fledging-media mogul as one of its own.
“I think the In Memoriam segment has always been an important part of the show and this year is no different in that we’re honoring all of our community that we’ve lost,” the show’s producer Stephanie Allain told Entertainment Tonight. “I think what’s really appropriate is that Kobe was part of the film community, and as such, he will be embraced within the In Memoriam segment.”