Verified Twitter Users Condemn Kobe as ‘Rapist’ Following Death

Assorted “verified” Twitter accounts and users with blue-checkmark profiles focused on rape allegations made against Kobe Bryant hours after the basketball icon’s tragic death on Sunday.

Felicia Sonmez, a Washington Post reporter, tweeted a Daily Beast article entitled, “Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s Story, and the Half-Confession.”

Kobe Bryant’s Disturbing Rape Case: The DNA Evidence, the Accuser’s Story, and the Half-Confession https://t.co/ec46u2ZfRb

— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) January 26, 2020

Afterwards, Sonmex claimed to be the recipient of “abuse” and “death threats”:

Well, THAT was eye-opening. To the 10,000 people (literally) who have commented and emailed me with abuse and death threats, please take a moment and read the story — which was written 3+ years ago, and not by me. Any public figure is worth remembering in their totality 1/2 https://t.co/gCd75WUGEa

— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) January 26, 2020

CNN’s Christine Brennan, a sports analyst, noted the sexual assault allegations made against Bryant during a televised segment.

NBA legend Kobe Bryant was one of five people killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, sources tell CNN. He was 41. https://t.co/vn9yMec8M3 pic.twitter.com/2OQUxx12Fc

— CNN (@CNN) January 26, 2020

Actress Evan Rachel Wood derided Bryant as a “rapist”:

What has happened is tragic. I am heartbroken for Kobe’s family.
He was a sports hero. He was also a rapist.
And all of these truths can exist simultaneously.

— #EvanRachelWould (@evanrachelwood) January 26, 2020

Guardian columnist Shailja Patel tweeted a 2016 article from ThinkProgress — an arm of the Clinton-affiliated and John Podesta-founded Center for American Progress — linking the rape accusations against Bryant to “victim-blaming”:

"what made the #KobeBryant case notable was the lengths to which the defense team would go to encourage that victim-blaming narrative. [ ] It’s impossible to know what Bryant's status would be if…the accuser’s past had not been viciously put on trial."https://t.co/jRf5C37eOc

— Shailja Patel (@shailjapatel) January 26, 2020

Danielle Campoamor, whose writings have been published in the New York Times and Washington Post, characterized Bryant as a rapist who escaped justice by virtue of his social status.

My thoughts are & will remain w/all the victims & survivors who will, once again, watch on as horrific rape allegations are glossed over or ignored entirely cuz a guy could play a sport really well. Your stories, your trauma, & your humanity matter more than career stats. #Kobe

— Danielle Campoamor (@DCampoamor) January 26, 2020

Danielle Cadet, managing editor of Vice Media’s Refinery29, called for “[believing] victims of sexual violence”:

It’s possible to feel overwhelming sadness for Vanessa Bryant & her remaining daughters AND acknowledge Kobe Bryant as an iconic athlete AND believe victims of sexual violence. It’s complicated. And that’s ok.

— Danielle Cadet (@dbcadet) January 26, 2020

Sarah Kelly, an alumnus of Vox Media’s SB Nation and the Washington Post Express, asked followers to “be honest about the fact that you’re publicly mourning a rapist”:

Yes, people can mourn “imperfect” people. But please be honest about the fact that you’re publicly mourning a rapist. It’s not sexual assault survivors’ fault that this is complicated.

— Sarah Kelly (@thesarahkelly) January 26, 2020

Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter @rkraychik.