Los Angeles- Kobe Bryant is going to shell out a fortune to make the rape case that wrecked his reputation go away.
The Los Angeles Lakers star has settled a civil lawsuit with the Colorado woman [Kate Faber] who ignited a furor when she claimed Bryant sexually assaulted her on June 30, 2003, ABC reported.
Neither Bryant’s lawyers nor the now-20-year-old woman’s reps would comment. But there were signs Friday that a deal was in the works when a deposition that Bryant had been scheduled to give was suddenly canceled.
Details of the settlement for emotional and other injuries remained under wraps. But court papers reveal the woman expected a windfall – and told pals she’d use the dough to buy a boob job and a koala bear.
“She said that after the case was over it was something that she was most likely going to do,” friend Sean Holloway testified.
Her lawyer was considering moving the suit to California because Colorado law made it difficult for her to win damages more than $733,000.
Bryant, 26, steadfastly denied raping the woman even after police in Eagle, Colo., charged him with sexual assault in July 2003.
But two months later, the case against Bryant began to crumble when the Daily News reported his defense team believed it had proof the accuser had sex with at least one other man shortly before the alleged attack.
The Bryant case collapsed last September during jury selection when the woman said she would not take the stand and would, instead, file the civil case.
Her decision came after the court mistakenly posted her name and personal information on the Internet.
Bryant issued an apology saying that while he believed the sex had been consensual, “I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did.”