What you need to know
Vanessa Bryant spotted Taylor Swift wearing Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation merchandise in the End of an Era docuseries and excitedly posted it on social media.
Bryant, 43, posted a photo of Swift, 36, wearing the brand’s royal blue crewneck in a scene from the six-part documentary series on his Instagram Stories on Tuesday, Dec. 30, and wrote, “What a gift. We love you @taylorswift,” adding a blue heart emoji and Swift’s song “Opalite” to the post.
Bryant shared another image of Swift in a royal blue sweatshirt, tagging Swift again and using “Ophelia’s Destiny” in a second post on his Instagram Story.
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Swift has been friends with the Bryant family for years, and had Vanessa’s late husband Kobe Bryant as a surprise guest at her 2015 concert.
Years later, Kobe, who passed away alongside his daughter Gianna Bryant in January 2020, praised Swift as an artist and said he believed it was “important to listen to people who do great things.” “There’s no way you can have that level of consistent success and still be a killer. That’s impossible,” Kobe explained.
Vanessa Bryant/Instagram
In May, Swift voiced support for Natalia Bryant after Vanessa and Kobe’s eldest daughter graduated from the University of Southern California.
Natalia, 22, shared a TikTok video of herself lip-syncing to Swift’s song “Nothing New (Taylor’s Version)” with three friends at the time, and Swift liked the post.
Vanessa spoke to PEOPLE in October about the release of her book, Mamba & Mambacita Forever, which pays tribute to Kobe and Gianna. “Working on this book was difficult because it brought back painful memories, but I’m glad I did it,” she tells PEOPLE.
“The Kobe and Gianna murals are all very beautiful, but most of them are outdoors and, unfortunately, like most murals, they fade over time and get damaged by the elements,” she explained. “We wanted to make sure we preserved them.”
