Proud mom Vanessa Bryant couldn't help but gush over her daughter Natalia's stunning looks, after her eldest child recently embarked on a modeling career.
The 38-year-old widow of Kobe Bryant shared some stunning images of her 18-year-old daughter to Instagram. Natalia glowed in the closeup in which she wore her lustrous dark hair straight and tied in a ponytail swept over one shoulder.
"My baby (with makeup)," Vanessa gushed in her caption.
"Daddy would be so happy that you’re pursuing your modeling career now that you’re 18. You’re beautiful inside and out. Beautiful with makeup and without makeup. We love you."
Vanessa reposted the image to her Insta Stories, while joking that her daughter "stole my face with daddy's lips." The soon to be University of Southern California student recently signed to prominent modeling agency IMG.
But some hateful comments accused Natalia of only having a contract with IMG because her father is Kobe Bryant.
"She is a beautiful girl, but if she were not Kobe's daughter she would not be modeling for IMG," one person wrote.
"Pretty face, but way too heavy to do any real modeling," a second added.
"Nepotism. Otherwise she would never ever be a model. Fact," a third chimed in.
The cruel comments come after Vanessa spoke out about the "unimaginable pain" following the death of husband Kobe and their daughter Gianna 'Gigi' Bryant.
Fourteen months after their tragic passing, Vanessa, 38, opened up about how she has coped. The forever mom of four says she is focusing on "finding the light in darkness" as she graces the cover of People magazine.
"Lying in bed crying isn't going to change the fact that my family will never be the same again. But getting out of bed and pushing forward is going to make the day better for my girls and for me. So that's what I do."
Kobe and Gigi died January 26, 2020 in a helicopter crash; he was 41 and she was just 13.
Vanessa now puts her time and energy into daughters Natalia, 18, Bianka, four, and Capri, 20 months old.
"My girls help me smile through the pain. They give me strength," Vanessa revealed to the magazine.