Vanessa Bryant, 38, paid tribute to Kobe Bryant and their daughter Gianna in the sweetest way. In a series of videos posted to her Instagram account on Wednesday, June 10, Vanessa revealed that she was getting a new neck tattoo to remember the pair who were tragically killed in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26. “I wanted my boo boo’s @kobebryant sweet message transferred on me,” she captioned the videos.
“@nikkohurtado came through for me. Thank you! #inked #messagetransfer #BooBoo #throwback #tattooinmyhallway,” she added, shouting out celebrity tattoo artist Nikko Hurtado. “Shoutout to @nikkohurtado for coming over and helping me get my Gigi’s sweet message transferred on me. #throwbacktoFebruary #housecall So happy I can see my Gigi’s handwriting everyday #mambacita,” she captioned a second video, showing off a tattoo on her wrist.
The first video was set to Lauryn Hill’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You (I Love You Baby),” which is both one of Kobe and Vanessa’s favorite songs! The couple went to go see Lauryn in Sept. 2018 for a romantic date night, which Vanessa sweetly planned for her man. “@vanessabryant surprised me with a date night to see my sister Lauryn Hill at The Hollywood Bowl,” Kobe gushed on Instagram at the time. “Loved catching up with her. My wife is winning the battle of best date night ideas.. FOR NOW #misseducationoflaurynhill #datenight.”
Another one of Kobe’s favorite artists also made her tattoo playlist: Bruno Mars! The Hawaii native’s “That’s What I Like” off his 2017 album blasted in the background. Kobe even introduced the Grammy winner at Staples Center during his 24 Karat Gold tour back in Mar. 2018!
Vanessa’s tribute comes just six months after Kobe and Gianna tragically lost their lives along with nine others. “Kobe and Gianna naturally gravitated toward each other,” Vanessa said in her eulogy in Feb. 2020. “She had Kobe’s ability to listen to a song and memorize all of the lyrics. It was a her secret talent. She was an incredible athlete… Gigi was confident but not in an arrogant way… She was very much like her daddy and that they both like helping people learn things and master things.”