MsMofoGone
Blue Crack Addict
Birkhead and Magazine: It's War
Thu Aug 30, 11:45 AM
Oh, what a little girl's birthday party has wrought...
OK! magazine was talking "explosive allegations" and Larry Birkhead was talking lawsuits after the celebrity weekly announced it had nixed planned coverage of the first-birthday party of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, Dannielynn.
"It breaks my heart that OK! has to pull out of a shoot that would have chronicled the next great chapter of Dannielynn's life," editor in chief Sarah Ivens said in a statement Thursday. "But first and foremost, we care dearly about the well-being of the young one, and my moral obligation lies with her. So, it's unfortunate, but at the moment, my biggest fear is that Larry and Howard may have tricked us all."
Reached by phone for comment, Birkhead, Smith's former boyfriend and Dannielynn's father, said it was OK! that was acting inappropriate.
"OK! magazine, they're basically—it's just sour grapes from them," Birkhead said.
Stern, the Smith lawyer and constant companion of the onetime E! reality star, who originally claimed to be Dannielynn's father, did not return a page seeking comment.
Birkhead, for one, said he planned to sue OK! for "alluding to the fact that I'd be involved in anything ethical or immoral with my daughter."
In a statement, OK! said it had "newly obtained allegations" that were "detailed, shocking and potentially incriminating"—and wouldn't be revealed until next week's issue.
Birkhead said he believes the magazine's "explosive allegations" are culled from former MSNBC host Rita Cosby's upcoming book, Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death. He said he also plans to sue Cosby. The author's publisher, Grand Central Publishing, did not immediately return an email Thursday seeking comment.
Birkhead, who'd participated in previous cover stories with OK!, said the rift between him and the usually celeb-friendly periodical started when he informed the magazine that Us Weekly wanted to do a cover story on him and Dannielynn.
"I asked out of courtesy, and OK! magazine went through the roof," Birkhead said, adding that the glossy was also irked by the invite to Dannielynn's party turning up in InTouch. "They can't stand it if one other magazine has one other little detail."
One email from OK!, Birkhead claimed, warned he'd be the subject of "horrid" coverage if he went ahead with the Us story. In the end, Birkhead did the Us interview, and according to him, he got the "horrid" treatment.
"They just sent out a press release showing how vindictive they are," Birkhead said. "They wanted to lock me down, like I'm under their command."
Per Birkhead, the magazine also wanted to play party planner.
"They wanted to send a rap star to my daughter's first birthday," Birkhead said. "That's not appropriate for a one-year-old."
The "rap star," per Birkhead: Kat DeLuna, a singer who actually left the rapping to Elephant Man on their summertime hit "Whine Up."
OK! did not respond to Birkhead's allegations, saying its original statements from the magazine and Ivens would stand for the day.
The Birkhead-OK! war is the second time in as many months that OK! has fired away at a tabloid star. In July, the magazine provided excruciating detail of a photo shoot and interview gone very wrong with Britney Spears.
Birkhead invoked Spears' name more than once on Thursday, as in, "They did the same thing with Britney Spears."
OK! coverage or no, Dannielynn's birthday party is still on. Birkhead was careful with details, but did allow that it'll be held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, and that Stern, with whom he battled for custody of the girl, was invited.
Of the party, Birkhead said, "It's going to be all about Dannielynn."
Dannielynn Hope was born in the Bahamas last Sept. 7, on one of the last relatively drama-free days of mother Anna Nicole Smith's life.
Three days after Dannielynn's birth, Smith's eldest child, Daniel Smith, died in his mother's hospital room of what has been termed an accidental drug overdose. He was 20.
Smith herself died of an accidental drug overdose in Florida in March at the age of 39.
Birkhead was awarded custody of Dannielynn in April, after DNA tests proved he was the biological father.
In addition to Dannielynn's birthday party, Birkhead said there would be a "private thing" to mark the one-year anniversary of Daniel Smith.
"It's been a rough year for me," Birkhead said, "and I'm not going to let these people [at OK!] drag me down. They're mad because someone sold one less magazine."
"They can stay home, and there'll be more cake for me and Dannielynn."
Thu Aug 30, 11:45 AM
Oh, what a little girl's birthday party has wrought...
OK! magazine was talking "explosive allegations" and Larry Birkhead was talking lawsuits after the celebrity weekly announced it had nixed planned coverage of the first-birthday party of Anna Nicole Smith's daughter, Dannielynn.
"It breaks my heart that OK! has to pull out of a shoot that would have chronicled the next great chapter of Dannielynn's life," editor in chief Sarah Ivens said in a statement Thursday. "But first and foremost, we care dearly about the well-being of the young one, and my moral obligation lies with her. So, it's unfortunate, but at the moment, my biggest fear is that Larry and Howard may have tricked us all."
Reached by phone for comment, Birkhead, Smith's former boyfriend and Dannielynn's father, said it was OK! that was acting inappropriate.
"OK! magazine, they're basically—it's just sour grapes from them," Birkhead said.
Stern, the Smith lawyer and constant companion of the onetime E! reality star, who originally claimed to be Dannielynn's father, did not return a page seeking comment.
Birkhead, for one, said he planned to sue OK! for "alluding to the fact that I'd be involved in anything ethical or immoral with my daughter."
In a statement, OK! said it had "newly obtained allegations" that were "detailed, shocking and potentially incriminating"—and wouldn't be revealed until next week's issue.
Birkhead said he believes the magazine's "explosive allegations" are culled from former MSNBC host Rita Cosby's upcoming book, Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death. He said he also plans to sue Cosby. The author's publisher, Grand Central Publishing, did not immediately return an email Thursday seeking comment.
Birkhead, who'd participated in previous cover stories with OK!, said the rift between him and the usually celeb-friendly periodical started when he informed the magazine that Us Weekly wanted to do a cover story on him and Dannielynn.
"I asked out of courtesy, and OK! magazine went through the roof," Birkhead said, adding that the glossy was also irked by the invite to Dannielynn's party turning up in InTouch. "They can't stand it if one other magazine has one other little detail."
One email from OK!, Birkhead claimed, warned he'd be the subject of "horrid" coverage if he went ahead with the Us story. In the end, Birkhead did the Us interview, and according to him, he got the "horrid" treatment.
"They just sent out a press release showing how vindictive they are," Birkhead said. "They wanted to lock me down, like I'm under their command."
Per Birkhead, the magazine also wanted to play party planner.
"They wanted to send a rap star to my daughter's first birthday," Birkhead said. "That's not appropriate for a one-year-old."
The "rap star," per Birkhead: Kat DeLuna, a singer who actually left the rapping to Elephant Man on their summertime hit "Whine Up."
OK! did not respond to Birkhead's allegations, saying its original statements from the magazine and Ivens would stand for the day.
The Birkhead-OK! war is the second time in as many months that OK! has fired away at a tabloid star. In July, the magazine provided excruciating detail of a photo shoot and interview gone very wrong with Britney Spears.
Birkhead invoked Spears' name more than once on Thursday, as in, "They did the same thing with Britney Spears."
OK! coverage or no, Dannielynn's birthday party is still on. Birkhead was careful with details, but did allow that it'll be held in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, and that Stern, with whom he battled for custody of the girl, was invited.
Of the party, Birkhead said, "It's going to be all about Dannielynn."
Dannielynn Hope was born in the Bahamas last Sept. 7, on one of the last relatively drama-free days of mother Anna Nicole Smith's life.
Three days after Dannielynn's birth, Smith's eldest child, Daniel Smith, died in his mother's hospital room of what has been termed an accidental drug overdose. He was 20.
Smith herself died of an accidental drug overdose in Florida in March at the age of 39.
Birkhead was awarded custody of Dannielynn in April, after DNA tests proved he was the biological father.
In addition to Dannielynn's birthday party, Birkhead said there would be a "private thing" to mark the one-year anniversary of Daniel Smith.
"It's been a rough year for me," Birkhead said, "and I'm not going to let these people [at OK!] drag me down. They're mad because someone sold one less magazine."
"They can stay home, and there'll be more cake for me and Dannielynn."
Will this saga ever end?
Leave these poor people alone. They've suffered enough as it is.
