Vanessa Bryant has responded to claims that she is pregnant with her fifth child. The widow of the late NBA star, Kobe Bryant, cleared up the rumor mill by sharing a telling message on Instagram that left no doubt about her supposed pregnancy. The 43-year-old had enjoyed a day at the US Open with her daughters, Bianka, eight, and Capri, six, on September 6, and later shared a photo of herself enjoying one of the tournament's signature cocktails, the honey deuce.
"Enjoying my honey deuce," she wrote alongside a snap of her holding the cocktail, made of vodka, fresh lemonade, raspberry liqueur, and honeydew melon shaped to look like tennis balls. "Keep me posted on how this imaginary pregnancy rumor is coming along. 24 years later ... same rumor," she defiantly added in an Instagram Story screenshot shared by TMZ.
While it's unclear where the rumors started, it was only a few months ago that Vanessa was also forced to address pregnancy speculation. Sharing a meme of Rihanna hanging in a pool while wearing a snorkel on her face and her middle fingers up in the air, Vanessa wrote: "Me protecting my peace, not pregnant & having fun all summer."
Alongside Bianka and Capri, Vanessa is also a mom to daughter Natalia, 22, and her late daughter Gianna. Gianna was just 13 years old when she and her dad, Kobe, who was 41 at the time, were killed alongside seven other people when the helicopter they were travelling in crashed in Calabasas, Los Angeles, on 26 January 2020. They were all travelling to Mamba Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks for Gianna's basketball game.
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photo of vanessa bryant in car drinking cocktail denying pregnancy© Instagram
Vanessa shut down rumors about her 'imaginary' pregnancy
A public memorial service for Kobe and Gianna was held at the then-Staples Centre in Los Angeles on 24 February 2020, where Vanessa bravely gave a heartbreaking account of a message Kobe had sent her a few weeks before he died. In it, she said he "mentioned how he wanted to spend time together. Just the two of us without our kids, because I'm his best friend first."
photo of vanessa bryant with two youngest daughters at us open© Getty Images
Vanessa with her youngest daughters Capri (M) and Bianka (L)
Vanessa and Natalia have a strong bond© Getty Images
Vanessa is also a mom to her eldest daughter, Natalia
She added: "We never got the chance to do it. We were busy taking care of our girls and just doing our regular, everyday responsibilities. But I'm thankful I have that recent text. It means so much to me." In April 2021, Vanessa spoke of how her other daughters helped her "to smile through the pain" and give her "strength" after the tragic deaths of Kobe and Gigi.
Vanessa Bryant, Gianna Bryant, and Kobe Bryant at Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports Awards 2016 at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion on July 14, 2016 in Westwood, California.© Getty Images
Vanessa's husband, Kobe Bryant, and their daughter Gianna both died on 26 January 2020
"This pain is unimaginable, [but] you just have to get up and push forward," she told Peopleat the time. "Lying in bed crying isn't going to change the fact that my family will never be the same again. But getting out of bed and pushing forward is going to make the day better for my girls and for me. So that's what I do."
She added: "I guess the best way to describe it is that Kobe and Gigi motivate me to keep going. They inspire me to try harder and be better every day. Their love is unconditional, and they motivate me in so many different ways."