As people across the country paid homage to the legacy of Kobe Bryant through makeshift memorials and paintings following his fatal helicopter crash last month, one mural plastered on a wall in Indiana didn’t go over so well with community members.
The artwork depicting Bryant, which was painted on a Marathon gas station wall located on the corner of 38th Street and Highschool road in Indianapolis, was mocked and flat-out called “ugly” across social media. Many thought the mural was an eyesore and more of a cartoonish depiction of the NBA legend, Black Indy Live reported.
At issue with the painting was Bryant’s seemingly distorted facial features and crooked body proportions, according to impromptu online art critics.
“Face is terrible, armpit jungle is terrible and jersey wide,” wrote one Facebook user.
Another Facebook commenter even went so far to say that the mural ultimately “killed” Bryant a second time.
“Whoever painted this on the side of the marathon on 38th and highschool road 🗣 Count your 🤬ing days b🤬h!! You killed Kobe all over again. I just took this pic. Smh”
Bryant died late last month along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others who were en route to his Mamba Academy for a basketball tournament.
A woman online by the name of Victoria said that her brothers were the ones who painted the mural.
The mural has reportedly been painted over.
Not everyone thought that the painting was unattractive though.
There are, however, several beautiful murals that popped up after Bryant’s death.
In Los Angeles, a mural was created within six hours by Jules Muck, muralist.
The artist said she “was really upset while I was painting, fighting back tears, especially the ‘Daddy’s Girl Banner.’” It is located at 4566 Pickford St. in L.A.’s Mid-City neighborhood.
Another L.A. mural located at 1255 S. La Brea Ave. in Mid-Wilshire honors Bryant, his daughter Gigi and the seven others who perished along with them.
The outrage over the Indianapolis mural is understandable given how much Bryant and his image has been guarded and protected by his celebrity friends who have come to his defense post-death.
Case in point, Snoop Dogg went on a heated rant against CBS This Morning anchor Gayle King after she interviewed WNBA star Lisa Leslie and inserted questions about Bryant’s previous sexual assault case in 2003, which was ultimately dropped.
Snoop and many others said King’s line of questioning was inappropriate, and she was slammed by a number of celebrities including Rickey Smiley and 50 Cent.
After his raw and emotional video calling out King, Snoop backtracked and apologized for his comments.
“I was raised way better than that,” he said in a video posted Wednesday. “So I would like to apologize to you publicly for the language that I used and calling you out of your name and just being disrespectful.”
Snoop said after talking with his mother, he was compelled to say sorry to King.
“I didn’t mean for it to be like that. I was just expressing myself for a friend that wasn’t here to defend himself,” the rapper said. “A lot of people look up to me and they love me and they appreciate me, so I want them to know that any time you mess up, it’s OK to fix it. It’s OK to man up and say that you’re wrong.”
King said she has accepted Snoop’s apology.
