There is a new conspiracy theory circulating online linking the passings of sports icons Kobe Bryant and Kyle Busch to insurance and pharmaceutical companies.
The NBA and NASCAR athletes’ passing stunned the international sports community due to their young ages and the sudden nature of the tragedies.
Bryant lost his life in January 2020 in a helicopter crash. He was 41. His daughter Gianna “Gigi,” 13, and seven other people who were on their way to a youth basketball game with the sports legend were also among the victims.
Highlights
- An online conspiracy theory is linking the tragedies of Kobe Bryant and Kyle Busch to lawsuits they filed against two companies.
- Bryant, who lost his life in a helicopter crash in 2020, had sued Hi-Tech Pharmaceutical over the name of the company’s diet pills.
- Busch, who recently succumbed to an undisclosed illness, had settled a lawsuit with Pacific Life Insurance Company.
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The National Transportation Safety Board said the pilot made several critical errors that likely led to the crash, including flying into dense clouds that disoriented him.
Busch, a professional stock car driver, passed away on Thursday (May 21) after being hospitalized with an undisclosed sudden and severe illness. He was 41.
The Busch Family did not share a cause of passing. The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion had previously been dealing with a sinus cold during the Cup Series race on May 10 and said days later that symptoms persisted, including a "substantial" cough.
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Busch was scheduled to compete in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway over the upcoming weekend in the United States.
Thousands of tributes poured in from across the racing and sports world, with people honoring the legacy of one of the most accomplished NASCAR drivers of his generation.
Amid the touching tributes, a post raising suspicions about the cause of Busch’s passing began gaining traction on X.
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User @MattWallace888 wrote, “Kobe Bryant won a significant settlement against a pharmaceutical company. He tragically d*ed in a helicopter crash weeks later.
“Kyle Busch won an $8.5 million settlement against a major insurance company. He tragically d*ed from a sudden & unexpected illness weeks later.”
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The post sparked mixed reactions, with some fueling the theory that the lawsuits were somehow connected to the stars’ fatalities and others rejecting it completely.
“Y'all still think some of these d*aths are coincidental. Big pharma don't like losing money,” one user wrote.
"Geez, now I really don't trust the medical field. Bad enough what they did to the American people over COVID,” another expressed.
“That makes me so sad how deep the corruption goes,” a third netizen said, while a fourth proposed, “Surely this is worth looking into!”
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“The conspiracy theorists are going wild. Sometimes awful things happen,” a separate fan countered. “Prayers for both families.”
One person noted that “coincidences aren’t connections,” while another simply asked the OP, “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Three years before his passing, Bryant had sued a pharmaceutical company called Hi-Tech Pharmaceutical over the name of its diet pills called Black Mamba HYPERRUSH, which included his nickname, Black Mamba.
The lawsuit centered on the trademark of the name, according to the Atlanta Black Star.
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The NBA legend had reportedly filed his trademark one year after Hi-Tech Pharmaceutical. However, his lawyers claimed that the company’s use of the Black Mamba name would confuse consumers, leading them to falsely associate him with the diet pills.
He even pointed to Nike using “hyper” in their products, arguing it would cause even more confusion.
The company argued that another athlete, boxer Roger Mayweather, also used the “Black Mamba” nickname and reportedly called Bryant a “bully.”
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The legal battle continued until January 2, 2020, around three weeks before Bryant’s fatal helicopter crash.
The LA Lakers star filed a motion to suspend proceedings due to settlement negotiations.
The case was eventually settled, court records show.
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On February 26, 2026, Busch settled an $8.5 million lawsuit with a life insurance company, Pacific Life Insurance Company.
The driver had accused the insurance company of misleading him into purchasing policies marketed as safe retirement plans.
In the October 2025 lawsuit, the athlete alleged that he and his wife Samantha had paid over $10.4 million in premiums based on misleading illustrations and false promises of guaranteed returns, ESPN reported.
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"Both sides worked constructively to achieve a confidential result that is mutually acceptable and avoids further legal proceedings," Pacific Life stated after the out-of-court settlement.
Busch’s lawsuit accused Pacific Life and one of its agents of marketing indexed universal life policies as "tax-free retirement plans" using speculative projections that failed to reveal true risks and costs.
“I looked at it like, this sounds too good to be true, but you’ve got to believe in those that are looking at it for you and trusting in the people with Pacific Life email addresses that are sending you the documents,” Busch said.
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“These insurance companies are too big to be (messing) with the little people, so we’re going to go at them,” he said. “It’s not just race car drivers or athletes or rich people of the world and this is why we’re going public with it.”
The company had filed for dismissal in January, contending the driver had signed documents agreeing to the terms.
Moreover, they had argued the lawsuit exceeded the three-year statute of limitations, claiming it was filed seven years after the policies were initiated.
Despite the online theories, there is no evidence that the lawsuits are related to the athletes’ tragedies.
"A future Hall of Famer, Kyle was a rare talent, one who comes along once in a generation," the statement from Busch’s family reads.
"He was fierce, he was passionate, he was immensely skilled and he cared deeply about the sport and fans. ... NASCAR lost a giant of the sport today, far too soon."
"Throughout a career that spanned more than two decades, Kyle set records in national series wins, won championships at NASCAR’S highest level and fostered the next generation of drivers as an owner in the Truck Series.”
Busch made his national NASCAR debut in 2001 in the Craftsman Truck Series. The Las Vegas native, nicknamed “Rowdy,” won championships in 2015 and 2019 and a total of 232 races across NASCAR’s three national series.
Bryant spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA. He won five NBA championships and was an 18-time All-Star. The basketball legend, who was the Lakers' all-time leading scorer, retired after the 2015–16 season.
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