‘My heart sunk.’ Kobe Bryant mural spray-painted with ‘rapist’ after just one day
A mural in Austin depicting Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna was spray-painted with the word “rapist” the same day it was revealed to the public.
Texas-based graffiti artists Felix Jaimes, known as Snuk One; Josue Rivera, who goes by Laced and Found; and Riki Loring painted the mural over two days before it was unveiled on Jan. 30. They painted it on a ”wall behind the Sushi Hi restaurant” on Guadalupe Street, according to Austin 360.
Jaimes told McClatchy News that he went to bed on Thursday night and woke up to a photo someone had posted showing the mural had been defaced.
“My heart sunk,” Jaimes said. “I got a sick feeling in my stomach. I went to bed last night just feeling so grateful for all of the love we’ve been getting recently with this and to wake up and see that, it made me sick. The first thing I did was hop in my car and obviously I grabbed my paints. I went to go fix it as soon as I found out.”
Bryant and Gianna were among the nine people who died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26 in Calabasas, California.
Twitter user Rashad posted a photo of the mural early Friday morning, writing that it had already been defaced.
“There was already people there,” Jaimes said. “It was sad seeing their faces, because there were kids and families there that wanted to take photos with it.And to come up to the wall to see everybody really bummed out, that hurt even more.”
Bryant was charged in 2003 for sexually assaulting a woman, but prosecutors dropped the case because his accuser wasn’t willing to testify, The New York Times reported. The woman later filed a lawsuit against Bryant that resulted in a settlement.
“I believe everyone has their own beliefs and opinions on various matters,” Rivera told KVUE. “Nonetheless there are ways to go about speaking and voicing personal thoughts. This was disrespectful to the Kobe family, the city of Austin, the fans and the artists who put some serious hard work and emotions into the piece. We will continue to fix this piece and prolong it as long as possible for the community to have it as their own.”
Jaimes told McClatchy News that Rivera and Loring came up with the idea and asked if he wanted to be part of making the mural.
“[Bryant’s death] really hurt,” he said. “It hits everywhere, not just in California. Just being able to pay my respects through something I love to do was my way of giving back to the people who lost him as well because there isn’t a mural I know of in Austin that [Los Angeles] Lakers and Kobe fans can go out to pay their respects, so this would be a good opportunity for the community.”
This story was originally published January 31, 2020 at 3:18 PM with the headline "‘My heart sunk.’ Kobe Bryant mural spray-painted with ‘rapist’ after just one day."