Millennials got schooled on sex ed on television. Bill Clinton taught us what oral sex was, deploying a defense for a decade of teenage boys to use on unwilling girls (“It doesn’t count as actual sex!”), and a few years later, Kobe Bryant taught us what rape was. And, perhaps more importantly, the media taught us how to blame the victim.
Although Bryant massively manned up in his later life, recommitting to his faith and attempting to redeem himself through charity, the forensic evidence made it pretty clear: While staying at a Colorado hotel, the basketball star consensually kissed a 19-year-old employee and then proceeded to strangle her as he raped her. Between Bryant’s lies to the police and the ample forensic evidence, including the alleged victim’s blood on Bryant’s shirt and a rape kit proving vaginal trauma and lacerations, the criminal case to convict Bryant was strong. Ultimately, it was the media that let him walk free, thanks to an ongoing harassment campaign that led to the accuser backing out of testifying against him.
