parenthood
Larry Birkhead, ex-boyfriend of the late
Anna Nicole Smith and father of their daughter Dannielynn, is ensuring that the girl grows up with a link to her mother—in the form of sexy underwear. "[Birkhead] spent nearly $3,000 at a celebrity auction Saturday scooping up lingerie once worn in a
Playboy shoot by the late playmate. Birkhead said he is trying to make sure his 1-year-old daughter, Dannielynn, has something to remember her mother by. 'I have a lot of history I have to put together that she doesn't really know about,' Birkhead told The Associated Press. '
Playboy was such a big part of Anna's career.'"
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great moments
Do you know what's awesome? When you're about to have a big party but right before it, you find out
you're being slapped with a $60-million libel lawsuit by Howard K. Stern, with more suits to follow from other subjects of your book. What is almost as awesome: that tonight's party at Pacha for
Rita Cosby's book (hosted by weird high-roller quarterly
21 magazine!) about
Anna Nicole Smith is a benefit for D.A.R.E. Show up for the children, people! Added bonus: We hear that Virgie Arthur, Anna Nicole's sainted mother, may be on hand!
tabloid media
Howard K. Stern, paramour and lawyer to fallen angel-temptress Anna Nicole Smith, is suing the holy heck out of Rita Cosby and her publisher, Hachette Book Group. Cosby's book, "Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death," which has pretty much only been read by tabloid mag staffers in need of innuendo for items, claims that Howard K. Stern and Anna Nicole babydaddy Larry Birkhead had an affair, for one thing. Birkhead's attorney—his client certainly has more case for grievance, because oh my God, Howard K. Stern, eww—says he'll file his own libel suit soon enough. Nifty! The legacy of Anna Nicole lives on!
ANNA'S EX SUES OVER GAY CLAIM [AP]
media bubble
Newspaper circulation falls pretty much everywhere. Here on the home front, though, both the Post and the News saw increases. Other (slight) success stories: USA Today and the Wall Street Journal. [WSJ]
Those numbers would be better if the Audit Bureau of Circulation included website visits. [E&P]
Conrad Black trial gets even more contentious. [NYT]
Christopher Hitchens charms ASME panelists; calls women "humorless bitches" and refers to Anna Nicole Smith as "that fat slut who died." [WWD]
gossip roundup
Says the writer whose once-shelved Anna Nicole bio is getting a new lease on life thanks to that lady's death: "I feel morally compelled to put her words out there." [R&M]
Candace Bushnell and producer Darren Star are deeply on the outs because of the similarities between his 'Cashmere Mafia' and her 'Lipstick Jungle' TV pilots. [Page Six]
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