Vanessa Bryant posted an emotional message to Kobe Bryant fans over the weekend, explaining the recent changes she’s made to her Instagram page in order to move on after the unexpected death of her husband.
Vanessa thanked Kobe fans on Saturday for all of the continued love but said that she and her daughter Natalia, 17, have had to block fan pages that post photos of the late NBA star and their daughter Gianna “Gigi” Bryant. Kobe and Gigi, 13, died in a helicopter crash along with seven others on January 26.
″@nataliabryant and I have unfortunately had to block fan pages because it’s been really hard to go online and constantly see pics of our beloved Gigi and Kobe under every single square of our explore pages,” Vanessa said on her Instagram story. “Blocking the fan pages has helped change the algorithm.”
“We 💜 you all but please understand that we had to do this for our own healing not because we don’t appreciate your 💜,” she added. “Xo.”
Natalia also posted a message on her Instagram telling followers that when fan accounts repost pictures of her late father and sister, it “makes it 10x harder to deal with our loss.”
“We hope that people understand that although these fan pages have good intentions, they make moving forward harder since they are constant reminders,” she added.
Just last month, Natalia shared a sweet photo and message on her Instagram to mark what would’ve been her sister Gigi’s 14th birthday.
“Happy 14th Birthday Gigi!” she shared in the caption. “I miss your smile everyday but I know you’re always smiling down on us from heaven with daddy. I LOVE YOU.”
Vanessa also shared photos of Gigi in Mickey Mouse gear and said that her daughter is “part of MY SOUL forever.” She also encouraged her followers to wear red on the special day.
“To commemorate Gigi’s birthday today, please consider wearing red, caption an act of kindness or show how you will play Gigi’s way since she always gave everything she did her all and led with kindness,” she added.
Kobe and Vanessa’s two other daughters are Bianka, 3, and Capri, who turns 1 on Saturday.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misstated the age of Capri Bryant and the date of her birthday.