LAS VEGAS (AP) - Las Vegas tourism officials have canceled several activities tied to the launch of a new city slogan in the wake of basketball star Kobe Bryant’s death.
A 60-second spot touting the “What happens here, only happens here” campaign aired during the Grammy Awards as planned Sunday night but other plans were postponed.
The new slogan is a play on the longtime saying that “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” The city had intended to display the new slogan on more than two dozen hotel and casino marquees on and around the Strip. Instead, most resorts showed messages of grief. They included “L.A., OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO YOU” and “#RIPKOBE.”
Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said all the planned activities will take place at a future date. But Bryant, his daughter and the other lives lost in a helicopter crash were too much on everyone’s minds.
The retired Los Angeles Lakers player, his 13-year-old daughter and seven others perished after their helicopter crashed Sunday morning in Calabasas, California, 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
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