South Africa Updates: 2020

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Vanessa Bryant Shares Old Video of Kobe on What Would be Their 19th Wedding Anniversary

It's a special day for Vanessa Bryant.

Vanessa celebrated her first wedding anniversary without her husband, Kobe Bryant. who tragically died in a helicopter crash, along with their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, in January, on Saturday. To commemorate what would have been 19 years since they tied the knot, Vanessa posted a heartfelt message dedicated to the love of her life along with a 2001 interview he did for MTV News where he shared what made her "the one." The interview was done the same year the two were married.

"You know, it's hard to pinpoint what exactly makes a person the one for you, but you just know," Kobe tells the interviewer. "I mean, love is a funny thing, I can't explain it and I don't understand it but all I know is she caught my heart. And I just knew she was the one."

Gushing over his wife, Kobe adds in the interview, "Yeah, Vanessa, she's very strong. She's very strong-willed."

Related Slideshow: Kobe Bryant Memorial (Provided by Photo Services)

Slide 1 of 34: Mourners are seated before paying their respect to NBA Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna's memorial service at Staple Center in Los Angeles, California, USA, 24 February 2020.

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1/34 SLIDES © Etienne Laurent/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi and seven others who died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26, 2020 were honored in a public memorial ceremony “A Celebration of Life: Kobe & Gianna Bryant” at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, U.S. on Feb. 24, 2020.

Mourners are seated before paying their respect to Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna's memorial service at Staple Center on Feb. 24 in Los Angeles, California.

He also predicted their big family. "In the future, I see us as being two cool-ass parents," the father of four says with a smile. "Young parents, full of energy. She has a ton of energy and I have a ton of energy."

"My LOVE ❤️My HEART," she captioned the video.

A source tells ET that "Vanessa plans to spend her wedding anniversary with her daughters, celebrating Kobe in their own special way. Although the family is currently in quarantine, Vanessa still would have done something private with her girls."

Kobe and Vanessa said "I do" on April 18, 2001. Last year, Kobe posted a sweet photo of him and his wife, writing: "Happy 18th Wedding Anniversary baby! Ti Amo per Sempre 🎉❤️."

Since Kobe and Gianna's death, Vanessa has honored and paid tribute to them on many occasions, as well as sharing how she and her three daughters -- 17-year-old Natalia, 3-year-old Bianka and 9-month-old Capri -- have been spending their time.

Earlier this week, Vanessa honored the NBA legend on Mamba Day, April 13, which marks Kobe's final game in 2016. She also shared sweet photos of her and her daughters on Easter.

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A post shared by Vanessa Bryant 🦋 (@vanessabryant) on Apr 13, 2020 at 10:37am PDT

Though Kobe was known for his iconic basketball career, he was first and foremost, a family man. Kobe met Vanessa during a music video shoot in 1999 while she was still in high school and he was just 20 years old. They got engaged when she turned 18, and they got married in April 2001.

"This pic is the day I asked @ladyvb24 for her number 11/28/99," Kobe wrote in 2013. "Thru the ups and downs she has been my love and best friend. 20 and 17 yrs old when we met, we have actually grown up together. A true honor and a blessing. Ti Amo Queen Mamba :-)"

Madonna's 'quarantine diaries' have fans questioning her mindset

Madonna wearing a costume: Madonna attends the Moschino [TV] H&M London Launch Party in London on November 6, 2018.

Madonna might be losing touch with her audience.

Since she began social distancing herself amid the coronavirus pandemic, the music icon has been posting her "Quarantine Diaries" on Instagram. The posts — in which she types on a typewriter and vocalizes her inner thoughts — aren't exactly hitting the right buttons and are coming off as bizarre, friends and fans told Page Six.

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A post shared by Madonna (@madonna) on Apr 6, 2020 at 4:12am PDT

"I worshipped her, we all did," said a source who's worked with Madge in recent years and has ties to her inner circle. "I still do, but I'm disappointed. It's like she's selling out to keep getting attention and she doesn't know how weird she's coming off. I keep hoping she'll snap out of it."

The Instagram posts come after a somewhat unsuccessful Madame X tour in which Madonna's late stage arrivals became commonplace.

Much of what Madonna has posted on social media is fun, including videos with her children. However, other Instagram posts are missing the target and getting her in trouble. She recently deleted an odd video of herself in the bathtub in which she called Covid-19 the "great equalizer." The post sparked backlash. Other fans mocked her for a March 20 video in which she sang into a hairbrush about fried fish to the tune of "Vogue."

So, what's going on? Many say the Material Girl hasn't been the same since her longtime publicist, Liz Rosenberg, retired in 2015.

"No one around her today can tell her anything," said Brad Jeffries, who choreographed for Madonna for years, including the "Like a Virgin" tour. "Liz could, but she's gone. That's why [Madonna] seems to be going so deep into the crazy right now. I defend her right to sleep with 25-year-olds because if she were a 61-year-old guy sleeping with 25-year-old women no one would blink an eye. But the way she's doing it comes off a little desperate."

Since splitting with ex-husband Guy Richie in 2008, she's dated several much-younger men, including her current boyfriend, 26-year-old backup dancer Ahlamalik Williams.

"Guy Ritchie broke her," a friend told Page Six. "He wouldn't take any crap from her and she couldn't handle it. He was the last of her alpha males. Frankly, most guys her age who she would want, [they] want 25-year-olds themselves."

Madonna wearing sunglasses talking on a cell phone: Madonna performs onstage during the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 1, 2019.

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Madonna performs onstage during the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on May 1, 2019.

Whether it's age or something else, the Madonna brand is simply not as strong as it once was, her former choreographer said.

"It must be killing her to begin to feel irrelevant," Brad said. "That girl was so smart, so driven, so focused, she could have been a major CEO. She had incredible powers of seduction and had more balls than any guy I ever met — more than any world leader. But she's lived her whole adult life in a white-hot spotlight and now it's dimmed to a 30-watt bulb. For someone like her, that's gotta hurt. Her idea of hell is walking into a room and people either not knowing who she is or not caring."

There are some who still believe that Madonna can and will reinvent herself, as she's done so many times.

"What you're seeing is a performance," a record-industry veteran said. "Nothing with her is unplanned. I feel for her about the [physical] injuries but she's also [seemingly] playing the vulnerable-victim card because it's worked so well for younger artists."

Ed Steinberg, who produced her first video, said, "She is crazy smart and will not fade away."

He added, "She's reinvented herself 12 times and now she's doing it again. Her most outstanding quality is needing attention. I would not write her off. She will rise again."