Kobe Ain’t Perfect, Why Smear Him?

Now I don’t know much about Felicia Sonmez, who works for the Washington Post, and have never read any of her articles or tweets before - until earlier this week. The Washington Post says Sonmez’s tweets about Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault case were ‘ill-timed’ after he as well as 8 others including his 13-year old daughter Gianna perished in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, CA, but that was not in violation of the newsroom’s social media policy. She was suspended over her disgusting tweets in which she made herself the victim, she is now reinstated at the Washington Post after a massive pressure campaign by the Washington Post Guild, her allies and a public threat she made to Marty Baron on Twitter.

While some people have their full support in what you tweeted regarding Kobe Bryant’s “raping” a woman back in 2004, she does not have my full support. Kobe Bryant was never tried for any crime, much less convicted, those charges were dropped. He admitted to there being a misunderstanding about what transpired that night; also, civil court not criminal, it’s not the same. People will piss all over the rule of law, constitution, bill of rights, whatever fits the agenda. It’s sad and disgusting. The first impression of Kobe a minority of people always say that he is/was a rapist but suddenly he’s dead and martyred as a hero. He was a hero to many people; while others label him as just a disgusting sexual assaulter. While I’m sorry about the deaths of those on board, people who say that they are not sorry he is dead have no soul nor the capacity to forgive.

Felicia Sonmez did wrong in her tweets and she deserved her suspension. Worse, she played a heavy role when she destroyed a man's life in 2018 over a drunken hook-up and anger that he had a girlfriend and flat out rejected her. Now, 18 months later she ascended to the heinous public torture of the Bryant family less than 2 hours after his tragic death.

It is odd that she didn’t think it was wrong to post a story about a 17-year-old rape accusation just moments after learning Kobe Bryant was killed. Had she written an article 2 weeks ago on Kobe Bryant’s sexual assault accusation I would have said, “good for you, go for it.” However, considering the tragic accident which took his life, that of his daughter and numerous other people, it just wasn't appropriate at this time.

Here's Felicia Sonmez's statement regarding her reinstatement:

Looks like she's genuinely doubling down on her crap. I’d like people with an open mind to point out while Felicia Sonmez just tweeted out she wants due process for reporters, she's the same woman who made a flimsy allegation against Jonathan Kaiman (Not the former North Hempstead Supervisor) of sexual abuse, and he received none, forced to resign. Felicia Sonmez not only smeared Kobe Bryant hours after his death, but she also attacked her colleague in Beijing, helping to destroy him (an innocent man convicted of nothing). It's funny that Sonmez tried to get Caitlin Flanagan & Emily Yoffe fired from Atlantic for criticizing her - after ruining someone's life for a drunken, consensual hook-up. Somewhere on this earth, Kaiman is having a rueful chuckle.

Kobe Bryant was discussed pretty much DAILY before his passing. The question is this; Where was her truthful mission statement the days, weeks, months, years between his acquittal & sad passing? What's the motivation for this from a journalist?

At that moment, it wasn't about Kobe Bryant...he was already gone. It was about his fans, family, and friends, who were paying close attention, and still dealing with the shock of the situation. Add that to an individual who was continuing to play the victim, and putting her boss on blast for good measure. This after bringing up Kobe Bryant’s rape accusation just minutes after his tragic death, then doxxing all the people who rightly criticized her for it.

Kobe Bryant was not a perfect man and truth be told, neither am I. What was the purpose of bringing up past discretions when since that incident he's devoted his life to contributing to society unlike Donald Trump. He had 4 daughters, one perished with him on that fateful Sunday morning. Even if you hate Kobe, there is no reason to be hateful to those who don't.

Felicia Sonmez turned a national tragedy into a news story about herself. She will now be “the reporter who posted about Kobe Bryant right after he and his daughter died.” Many people would say, “Boy, she should be proud of that accomplishment!” All in all, she is NOT the victim here. Her self indulgent attempt at click baiting by taking a dump on Kobe Bryant on the day he died was disgusting. Her supporters have emboldened her, but let not her audacious down playing of Kobe Bryant's legacy be your bread and butter. Her erroneous timely reporting seems celebratory of a Legend. His death, your opportunity? May her actions forever define her character. What a disgrace. She deserved her suspension and should not have been reinstated.

I supported the suspension of Felicia Sonmez based on her shameful soulless tweets about Kobe Bryant. While she may not be wrong, that Kobe's legacy must be taken as a whole, good and bad, making that argument in the midst of our grief was incredibly poor judgement. She wasn't reporting the truth as it was never proved Kobe Bryant raped anyone. Not only that, it is shameless to bring it up after he just died... now here she is complaining for sympathy. Truth be told, nobody cares. She's horrible and so is the Washington Post for reinstating her. Now she continues to keep her job and making strides in ruining any credibility the MSM has. Kobe Bryant dies and she makes it about her. Continuing to play the victim, and putting your boss on blast for good measure. You are truly a pathetic, despicable human being.

I think Vanessa Bryant and her entire family would LOVE to sue her for emotional damage based on what she posted about Kobe Bryant, and she made every basketball fan furious at her now, and she earned the right to be hated. Not only that, she's just a really bad person for this and what she did to Jonathan Kaiman and l hope this ruins your career. This is why people dislike the media in this country and she just seem so incredibly tone deaf.

Now Kobe is dead and Felicia Sonmez is still continuing to play the victim. She has no sense of human decency.