LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, called out rapper Meek Mill on social media for one of his lyrics that she called “extremely insensitive.”
In a new song titled “Don’t Worry (RIP Kobe),” the rapper says, “If I ever lack, I’m goin’ out with my chopper, it be another Kobe,” The Hollywood Reporter and Entertainment Tonight report.
Bryant took offense to the lyric about the late NBA legend who died last year in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, along with their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven others.
Bryant made her thoughts known in an Instagram post on Monday.
“Dear @meekmill, I find this line to be extremely insensitive and disrespectful. Period. 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,” wrote Bryant.
When the song was first leaked, Meek Mill faced criticism online, but he seemed to brush it off at the time. Last Wednesday, he tweeted "Somebody promo a narrative and y'all follow it.... y'all internet antics cannot stop me ....s**t like zombie land or something! Lol."
But soon after Bryant spoke out about the lyric, the rapper said he apologized to her.
“I apologized to her in private earlier today not to the public...Nothing I say on my page directed to a internet viral moment or the family of a grieving woman! If you care about someone grieving change the subject!” he tweeted early Tuesday morning.
The exchange between Bryant and Meek Mill comes weeks after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released the findings of its investigation into the crash that killed the former NBA star. They said the cause was poor decisions by the pilot.
Federal officials said during a hearing on the probable cause that the pilot made a key error by flying through thick clouds that ended up disorienting him.
