Kobe Bryant is arguably one of the greatest basketball players of all time. History also has it that he had made efforts to make a name in the movie industry as well and this he did. Only recently he won an Academy Award for his short film, “Dear Basketball.”
Originally Kobe Bryant was meant to be part of the Animated Film Festival to be held in Los Angeles. However this is not to be as he has been removed from the film festival. The reason for his removal being the outcry by online protesters about his rape allegations from 2003.
The Oscar winning director and former pro basketball star has been removed from the jury of the Film Festival because there has been an online uproar about his 2003 rape allegations. The CEO of GKIDS, the company in charge of the gala issued a statement about the dismissal of the star from the panel. He said,
“After discussions with the various stakeholders of Animation Is Film, the decision has been made to remove Kobe Bryant from the 2018 jury. We are a young organization and it is important to keep our collective energies focused on the films, the participating filmmakers, and our festival attendees.”
Last week a petition was made on Change.org inviting people in arts and patrons to take a stand against violent and toxic behavior towards female folk. Kobe Bryant was arrested for sexually harrassing and employee in 2003. The charges were dropped after she refused to testify against the pro star. Kobe made a public apology to her and the rest of the world afterwards.
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