Has a TMZ informant been charged with murder of Kobe Bryant and others? No, that's not true: That is a fake report from a website with a history of publishing unfounded claims. There has been no arrest in the crash of the NBA star's helicopter.
The claim originated from an article published by LFR Solutions on January 30, 2020, titled "BREAKING NEWS: TMZ Informant Charged With Murder of Kobe Bryant and Others!!" (archived here) which opened:
Just this past Sunday, TMZ broke the story of the death of beloved NBA Basketball legend, Kobe Bryant, his rising star daughter, Gianna Bryant and seven others after Kobe's helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, just miles outside of Los Angeles. TMZ originally reported that the crash was due to foggy conditions that swept most of ...
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BREAKING NEWS: TMZ Informant Charged With Murder of Kobe Bryant and Others!!
Just this past Sunday, TMZ broke the story of the death of beloved NBA Basketball legend, Kobe Bryant, his rising star daughter, Gianna Bryant and seven others after Kobe's helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, just miles outside of Los Angeles. TMZ originally reported that the crash was due to foggy conditions that swept most of ...
Kobe Bryant, the 41-year-old former Los Angeles Lakers superstar, was killed on January 26, 2020, in a helicopter crash in California along with his 13-year-old daugher and seven others. They were traveling to a youth basketball game at Bryant's youth basketball academy. The pilot had been given special permission to fly around the city of Burbank in extremely foggy conditions, authorities have said.
Investigators have been looking into the cause of the crash. Just before air traffic control lost track of the helicopter, the New York Times reported, the pilot had said he was trying to fly higher to avoid a cloud layer.
Despite what the fake story claimed, no one has been arrested in connection with the crash.
The LFR Solutions site bills itself as "The Hottest Source For The Latest In Urban Entertainment." However, the site contains a disclaimer in small print that it is satirical:
The stories posted on lfrsolutions.com are for entertainment purposes only. The stories may mimic articles found in the headlines, but rest assured they are purely satirical.
However, that disclaimer is between four and five pixels large, so it is hardly legible on most screens. To Lead Stories, that indicates deception is going on - so, in accordance with our Satire Policy, we rate this story "False".
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