Former basketball star Kobe Bryant won an Oscar Sunday night for Best Animated Short _ a win that counters the #MeToo movement considering Bryant was once accused of sexual assault.
Bryant _ whose winning film "Dear Basketball" chronicled his retirement from the NBA _ was arrested in July 2003 for sexual assault.
The Lakers superstar was accused of rape by a 19-year-old hotel employee who claimed Bryant assaulted her while he was staying at The Lodge and Spa at Cordillera in Colorado.
The woman, who was a desk clerk at the hotel, said she and Bryant kissed and flirted before he assaulted her.
Bryant, who was married at the time, admitted publicly that he had had relations with the teen, but alleged all encounters were entirely consensual.
"Although I truly believe this encounter was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did," he said in a court statement.
Ultimately, his accuser was unwilling to testify, and a criminal case was dropped in 2004. The basketball star settled a civil lawsuit out of court in 2005 for an undisclosed amount.
To award Bryant with an Oscar in the age of #MeToo proved a head-scratcher for many, especially considering the hit frontrunner James Franco took, as his film "The Disaster Artist" was snubbed of all major awards after sexual assault accusations against him broke.
Many on Twitter mocked the decision, especially paired with the apparent sea change that's taken hold in Hollywood regarding sexual assault tolerance in the wake of Harvey Weinstein.
"Hollywood _ 'Women are important!' Also Hollywood _ 'Here's Kobe Bryant, who sexually assaulted a woman!'" one user wrote.
"Kobe Bryant has as many Oscars as sexual assault charges," another wrote.
