Nah.
again, the job of journalists is not to memorialize luminaries when they died but to contextualize them, but so much of the media is *not* news, and people kirk out when journalists behave like journalists and not like, say, NBA TV or Jimmy Kimmel.
the reality is, talking abt the 2003 rape case seems so dissonant *not* because it's wrong to do so, but because for over a decade and a half, the sports media, in particular, has so studiously and uniformly avoided talking about it.
When he won the Oscar, some people were like "isn't it weird that Hollywood is having this #MeToo moment and they're also awarding Kobe?"
sports fans did not like that. "why are you bringing up old shit?"
sports fans did not like that. "why are you bringing up old shit?"
When he won the ESPY the year he retired, and people brought the case up, fans were like "damn, y'all can't let this man shine."
And now that he's dead, as @staceyNYCDC pointed out, the defense is "why are you bringing it up now that he's not here to defend himself?"
And now that he's dead, as @staceyNYCDC pointed out, the defense is "why are you bringing it up now that he's not here to defend himself?"
it's become pretty clear that there will never be a right time to talk about Kobe's rape case, and if you *do* talk about it, you have to do so through through the lens of exculpation and redemption.
(aside: her analysis is begging for some class critique. Yeah, Kobe is a Black man who was accused of raping a white woman; he was also a rich celebrity and the disposition of that case unfolded the way it did because of that.)
bloop.
you actually cannot fully understand Kobe Bryant's public profile without talking about the 2003 case, regardless of whether you want to talk about the actual details of the case and the trial.
By the time Kobe was in his early 20s, he had already won three championships with the Lakers. He was on top of the league, and in those early days, Kobe openly talked about wanting to be Will Smith – a multi-hyphenate entertainer and pitchman.
Then the rape accusation came.
Then the rape accusation came.
McDonald's dropped him. Coca Cola — he was a Sprite pitchman — dropped him. Nutella dropped him.
He went from the golden boy to damaged goods as an endorser. The NBA Will Smith route was foreclosed to him.
He went from the golden boy to damaged goods as an endorser. The NBA Will Smith route was foreclosed to him.
As time went on, Kobe started to embrace a different public persona — he was the hardass, i-have-no-friends dude who would embrace being unliked if it meantwinning. He called himself the Black Mamba, a nickname that stuck and became beloved despite the try-hardiness of it all.
The rape case had been so thoroughly whitewashed and abstracted that the "Kobe the asshole" persona was effectively shorn of the subtext that helped birth it.
A great example is this Nike ad from his final season.
on.nba.com/2Oryr2T
A great example is this Nike ad from his final season.
on.nba.com/2Oryr2T
Just as a *media story,* the rape case is a line of demarcation in his public persona.
but also, a few things on "objectively reporting."
and my old editor @tasneemraja and I used to always say this: "objectivity is bullshit."
and my old editor @tasneemraja and I used to always say this: "objectivity is bullshit."
journalism should endeavor to be accurate and thorough and fair, but "objectivity" is a trap that has historically meant news organizations and journalists siding with institutional power and the very worst kinds of both-sides-ism.
the deployment of "objectively report" here is illustrative: the "objective" thing to do would be to extend the benefit of the doubt to a rich celebrity accused of rape, whose accuser refused to testify after her name was leaked to the media...
...and for whom the media has carried water for for nearly two decades.
"objectivity" is how we end up with perfunctory, weaselly lines in obituaries about rapists and racists and people who did awful things with power being "complicated."
And so again: “Objectivity” is bullshit.
