ANNA NICOLE SMITH’s close friend, lawyer and confidante, HOWARD K. STERN, broke his silence Tuesday night on "LARRY KING Live" for the first time on TV following the sudden death of Anna Nicole’s son, DANIEL. In a bombshell interview, Stern claims that he is the proud father of Anna Nicole’s baby girl, who he says is named DANNYLYNN HOPE (sic). "Anna and I have been in a relationship, and we love each other, and it’s been going a very long time," he told King. "[Due to the fact that I am her lawyer], we felt it was best to keep everything hidden." When pressed by King whether or not he is the father of the child, Stern replied, "Yes sir. Proud father. Based on the timing of when the baby was born, there is no doubt on our minds." Last week, photographer LARRY BIRKHEAD came forward to ET, claiming he is the father of Anna Nicole’s child and is willing to take a paternity test. Stern acknowledged that he himself has not yet taken a paternity test, but he won’t be doing Birkhead "any favors" and questioned the man’s reasoning for the claim. "First you have to look at what his motives are," said Stern. "It’s unforgivable … that he would go to the media and not wait for Daniel to be put to rest. If he truly felt he was the father, I think he would have handled it differently." Stern added that he and Anna Nicole plan to get married at some point in the near future: "With everything that’s gone on, we’ve realized [how much we love each other] … We will; at some point we will. We have to get through what we’re going through. … We really haven’t been allowed to grieve, with the whole way this has been handled." As for Anna Nicole’s condition, the worn-out-looking lawyer explained, at times choking back emotion, "She’s having a tough time of it; I can’t really imagine a worse condition. … Daniel was her rock, so everything that she’s gone through, Daniel’s been with her, and honestly I don’t know how we’re going to get through this." Stern was with Anna Nicole when she found the lifeless body of her 20-year-old son in her hospital bedroom just days after giving birth to her baby daughter earlier this month. He had picked up Daniel from the airport, and regarding the hours leading up to his sudden passing, he said to King, "It was one of the best nights I’ve ever remembered. Anna had her son and her new baby girl, I was there, and it was great." In the middle of the night, Stern said Daniel stayed up to watch TV and helped his mom to the bathroom several times. Then, Stern recalled, "At one point Daniel said to me, ‘How come I’m so tired?’ In hindsight, I wish that I had seen that as some sort of a signal, and seen that something wasn’t right." Two separate autopsies were performed on Daniel to determine the cause of death — one by Bahamian officials and one by private pathologist CYRIL WECHT — but toxicology reports were inconclusive; they reportedly came back negative for any illegal substances, and the reported prescription drugs in his system were not at levels high enough to be deadly. The results of two more toxicology tests are yet to be released. "There’s just no way that Daniel would have taken his life," Stern told King. "He was so excited to come here to be with his mom and see his sister — I couldn’t fathom that he would have done this intentionally." Daniel’s body remains in the Bahamas, and Stern did not want to reveal details about the funeral.
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OMG! This story gets weirder and weirder everyday. But part of me just doesn’t believe he is the father, he might say that just so that Larry Birkhead won’t file for custody. But then again with Anna Nicole who the freak knows what is next?
