Vanessa Bryant criticized rapper Meek Mill over his lyrics in a newly released song that referenced Kobe Bryant and the helicopter crash that killed him last year, calling the line “extremely insensitive and disrespectful.”
“Dear @meekmill, I find this line to be extremely insensitive and disrespectful. Period,” Bryant wrote in an Instagram story published Monday night. “I am not familiar with any of your music, but I believe you can do better than this. If you are a fan, fine, there’s a better way to show your admiration for my husband. This lacks respect and tact.”
In Mill’s song, “Don’t Worry (RIP Kobe)” ― which was widely shared online last week ― the Philadelphia native reportedly raps: “Yeah, and if I ever lack, I’m goin’ out with my chopper, it be another Kobe.”
The rapper drew wide criticism over the song, which also features rapper Lil Baby, with many on Twitter calling the lyrics disrespectful.
Mill responded to the criticism of his lyrics in a tweet published early Tuesday morning, saying that he apologized directly to Bryant.
“I apologized to her in private earlier today not to the public … Nothing I say on my page directed to [an] internet viral moment or the family of a grieving woman!” he wrote. “If you care about someone grieving change the subject!”
The Los Angeles Lakers legend and the couple’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, were killed along with seven other people in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, in January of last year.
Bryant shared an emotional tribute to her late husband and their daughter in an Instagram post for the one-year anniversary of their deaths last month. The post featured a moving letter written to Bryant from one of Gianna’s best friends, Aubrey Callaghan.
“I will never understand why/how this tragedy could’ve happened to such beautiful, kind and amazing human beings,” Bryant’s caption read, in part. “It still doesn’t seem real. Kob, we did it right. Gigi, you still make mommy proud. I love you!”
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