LOS ANGELES -- Kobe Bryant has been dropped from the jury of an animated film festival after calls for the former NBA star's ouster over a 2003 rape allegation.
Eric Beckman is the CEO of the organization behind the Animation Is Film Festival. He wrote in a statement Wednesday that the festival's stakeholders decided to drop Bryant to keep its focus on films.
An online petition had been circulating demanding Bryant be dropped.
Bryant released a statement saying he was honored to be invited and disappointed to be excluded.
He won an Academy Award in March for his part in making the animated short, "Dear Basketball.