Kobe Bryant death: Daytime shows 'The View', 'The Talk' and 'The Wendy Williams Show' pay respects to NBA star
The deaths of Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna "Gigi" Bryant and seven others in a helicopter crash on January 26 left the daytime talk shows in a somber mood. The helicopter reportedly crashed into a hillside, killing everyone on board, under foggy conditions in Calabasas, California. The official cause of the crash has not been determined.
On ‘The View’, the co-hosts paid a tribute to Bryant. Whoopi Goldberg started the show with, “When people say you have to live each day to the fullest, this is what they mean.” She went on to add how her grandson, “who was born with a basketball in his hand,” was a huge fan of the 41-year-old NBA legend.
Co-host Sunny Hostin said, “I spend every weekend with my daughter's basketball team and we were stunned and she took it particularly difficult. She's a 13-year-old basketball player and she knew about Gigi. We couldn't process it.”
Meghan McCain said how videos of Bryant’s daughter Gigi playing basketball hit her really hard. “I can't even fathom what they're going through right now,” she said, before offering prayers for the deceased.
On ‘The Wendy Williams Show’, the host said, “I don't know where you were when you found out. D**n it man,” to the live studio audience. She admitted that she wasn’t a sports person, but that Bryant was a living legend and added that she could not deal with news and wanted to take the day off.
“Live each day like it's your last. Not in a bad way. Hug the people you know. Sometimes you gotta let bygones be bygones,” she said. “I feel like, I'm like the Pied Piper of Happiness, kind of. But I said we gotta reconfigure the show. We were supposed to do Style Squad, breaking down the best and worst fashion of the Grammys. Forget Best and Worst, you're alive, we all look great!”
On CBS’ ‘The Talk’, the co-hosts again began the episode with a tribute to the NBA giant and CBS news anchor Pat Harvey said, “We’re still in shock.” The hosts each spoke about how the world was still coping with the loss of Bryant, before offering their prayers for the family.