Kobe Bryant died in accident, wasn't killed for speaking about Dr. Sebi | Fact check

The claim: Kobe Bryant was killed for speaking about Dr. Sebi's use of shilajit

A July 2 Facebook video ( direct link , archive link ) shows a picture of the late NBA player Kobe Bryant alongside a picture of shilajit, a resin-like substance from rocks in the Himalayas used by some as medicine.

“They k!lled him for exopsing (sic) them!” the text on the screen reads. “Kobe Bryant d!ed in a mysterious helicopter crash 4 days after he spoke about how Dr. Sebi used a Himalaayan superfood called Shilajit to heal his cousin from cancer (sic).”

The post goes on to say Bryant sued three major pharmaceutical companies for ignoring Dr. Sebi’s “shilajit researches.”

The post was shared more than 3,000 times in less than a month.

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Our rating: False

There is no evidence Bryant spoke about Dr. Sebi prior to his death. The helicopter crash that killed Bryant and eight others was ruled an accident.

Deadly crash caused by weather and confusion

Bryant, along with his daughter Gianna and seven others, died in January 2020 when the helicopter they were riding in crashed in Calabasas, California, while en route to a youth basketball game.

But contrary to the post's claim, there is nothing to indicate the crash was anything other than an accident. The National Transportation Safety Board reported the pilot became disoriented after flying into low clouds and mistakenly flew into a hillside .

“The probable cause of this accident was the pilot’s decision to continue flight under visual flight rules into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot’s spatial disorientation and loss of control,” the NTSB accident report said.

Years before the accident, Bryant sued a pharmaceutical company in 2017 over the "Black Mamba" name it was using for a drug. Both wanted to trademark the name, but court documents show the case was terminated on Jan. 2, 2020, about three weeks before the crash.

Fact check : Kobe Bryant's settled trademark lawsuit, death were not related

The court case made no mention of shilajit or Dr. Sebi, a self-proclaimed healer whose real name was Alfredo Bowman. There are likewise no credible news reports connecting Bryant to the doctor or the substance.

Bowman was an alternative health promoter who worked with celebrities including actors Eddie Murphy and John Travolta, rapper Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and singer Michael Jackson. Although he went by the title of doctor, Bowman did not have a medical license . He also made baseless claims that he could cure cancer, HIV and other diseases with natural remedies.

But Bowman did not appear to point to shilajit, a resin found primarily in the rocks of the Himalayas , as one of his remedies. There are no credible news reports connecting him to it, and the resin is not sold on Dr. Sebi’s health food website .

Bowman died in 2016 while in a Honduran prison for fraud charges . USA TODAY has debunked previous conspiracy theories that he and others were killed or imprisoned to stop them from spreading alternative health practices.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

• National Transportation Safety Board, Feb. 9, 2021, Rapid Descent Into Terrain Island, Express Helicopters Inc., Sikorsky S-76B, N72EX Calabasas, California, January 26, 2020
• U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, Dec. 11, 2019, Kobe, Inc. vs. Hi-Tech Pharmeceuticals, Inc.
• The Telegraph, Aug. 23, 2016, Alfredo Bowman, celebrity herbalist – obituary
• New York Amsterdam News, Oct. 1, 1988, Herbalist found not guilty in 'fake' healing case
• Dr. Sebi's Cell Food (archive), accessed July 26, Home page

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Kobe Bryant died in accident, wasn't killed for speaking about Dr. Sebi | Fact check