Vanessa Bryant’s fellow NBA basketball wives tipped her off that husband Kobe was behaving badly, reports say.
According to TMZ, Vanessa filed for divorce from her NBA star husband after nearly 11 years of marriage because of constant warnings from other basketball wives, whose husbands told them about Kobe’s alleged philandering.
“She’s been dealing with these incidents for a long time and has been a faithful wife, but she’s finally had enough,” a source tells the site.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the last straw for Vanessa was when Kobe allegedly introduced a mistress to the couple’s two daughters, ages 5 and 8. Vanessa also reportedly caught wind that her husband laughed off a promise he made to her never to cheat again.
Radar Online points to Kobe’s link with “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” producer Carla DiBello as one reason for the end of the Bryants’ marriage. DiBello is close friends with Kim Kardashian. But Radar’s report is unconfirmed.
Vanessa famously stood by her husband in 2003 when 19-year-old hotel employee Katelyn Faber accused Kobe of sexual assault. While the criminal case against Kobe was eventually dropped, and a civil case was settled out of court, Kobe admitted to having sex with Faber.
The exact date Vanessa filed for divorce is unclear, but Kobe signed the paperwork Dec. 1. A joint statement from the splitting couple read, “The Bryants have resolved all issues incident to their divorce privately with the assistance of counsel and a judgment dissolving their marital status will be entered in 2012.”
Vanessa is reportedly seeking joint custody of the couple’s children as well as spousal support. According to TMZ, the couple had no prenuptial agreement.