Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s widow, is being sued by her mother who claims Kobe promised to take care of his mother-in-law for the rest of her life.

According to news reports, Sofia Laine, who is 70 years old, claims her daughter is reneging on promises made to her. She says she was the family’s nanny for nearly 20 years and was "forced" to work around the clock without proper meals or rest breaks. Laine also claims she was never paid for any of this but was promised instead to be taken care of all her life. 

Following Kobe’s death last year, Laine said her daughter ordered her to move out, prompting Laine to file a lawsuit. Bryant counters that her mother only filed the lawsuit to "extort a financial windfall from my family" as she never served as the family’s personal assistant or nanny. "I have always been a stay-at-home mother and my husband and I were our daughters' full-time care givers," Bryant stated. "In reality, she only occasionally babysat my older girls when they were toddlers."

Laine notes that "[a]lthough I filed a lawsuit, I did not make any public comments and was hoping for the court process to run its course without publicity, as hurtful as it is. I did not want this and do not want this."

Bryant’s statement in response to the lawsuit notes, "This lawsuit is frivolous, disgraceful, and unimaginably hurtful. My husband never promised my mother anything, and he would be so disappointed in her behavior and lack of empathy."

—Source: tmz.com