NBA player Kobe Bryant and wife Vanessa during the 2009 ESPY awards held at Nokia Theatre LA Live on July 15, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. The 17th annual ESPYs will air on Sunday, July 19 at 9PM ET on Vanessa Bryant (Getty Images) NBA all-star Kobe Bryant and wife Vanessa Bryant have confirmed the end of their 10-year marriage. Vanessa filed for divorce due to "irreconcilable differences" Friday in Orange County Superior Court in Santa Ana, CA, and according to the couple's joint statement the terms of the split have already been reached.
"The Bryants have resolved all issues incident to their divorce privately with the assistance of counsel and a Judgment dissolving their marital status will be entered in 2012," the statement reads. "We ask that in the interest of our young children and in light of the upcoming holiday season the public respect our privacy during this difficult time."
In the divorce papers, Vanessa requested joint custody of the couple's two daughters, 8-year-old Natalia and 5-year-old Giana. According to gossip site TMZ's anonymous sources, the couple didn't have a pre-nuptial agreement, which means this will likely be an expensive split for Kobe, who is worth an estimated $150 million or more.
The Los Angeles Laker and his wife famously survived a cheating scandal back in 2003 when Bryant was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old resort employee in Colorado. Kobe maintained the tryst was consensual, and gave a press conference admitting his dalliance. "I sit here in front of you guys, furious at myself, disgusted at myself for making the mistake of adultery," he said in July, 2003. "And I love my wife with all my heart."
The criminal case was later dropped after the resort employee decided not to testify, and a civil case was settled out of court.
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