Access Hollywood's Tony Potts spoke exclusively to Larry Birkhead as he entered a Florida court today. This is the first interview with Birkhead since Anna Nicole Smith died and what he says will break your heart.
"Larry, how are you? We haven't seen you since Anna Nicole's death. How are you doing, how are you holding up", Tony asked Larry.
"I'm hanging in there, hanging in there. It's been tough but I'm hanging in there right now," Birkhead responded.
Tony: "Why do you think it's important to be here today?"
Larry: "Just to honor Anna's wishes and to be here for my – our daughter and just to make sure everything goes down the way it should."
Tony: "How will you feel when you sit there and you'll be across from Howard K. Stern looking him in the eyes and he's the fellow who's actually keeping you from your daughter."
Larry: "Um, it doesn't make me happy but, you know, I'm here to make sure, I hope, that that doesn't happen too much longer."
Tony: "What have you been doing these last couple of weeks, how have you been handling everything?"
Larry: "I've been in bed, just not really able to get out. This is one of the first times I've been out so…"
Tony: "What do you want to tell the people across the country who seem to be in your corner and have been supporting you through all this?"
Larry: "Thanks for your support and it's been a long tough road and it's not over yet but I'm hoping for the best and just hanging in there."
Tony: "What will it mean to you if you're finally able to hold little Dannielynn in your arms once again?"
Larry: "It'll mean the world, that's all I've really wanted with this whole thing and that's uh, I'm sure it's right around the bend for me so…"
Tony: "What have you been doing to keep your strength up through all of this, to not get discouraged, to not throw in the towel and say everyone seems to be against me?"
Larry: "I just look at a picture of my daughter and that's all I really need to see, to keep me strong."
Access Hollywood
I really hope that Dannielynn is his because you can tell he is going to be a great dad.
Six months before Anna Nicole Smith’s tragic death, the pregnant TrimSpa spokesmodel reached out via video to fellow pregnant celeb Britney Spears, Us has learned. In the video, an 8-months-pregnant Smith directly addressed Spears, who was also expecting her second child (their respective babies, Dannielynn and Jayden, were born five days apart in September): “If you see this for some oddball reason – because I look at your stuff, too [referring to Spears’ Web site] – and you want to be friends, I would love so much to hang out with you,” she said. “I think you’re totally cool, and I think we’re about to have babies around the same time…I would just love to meet you.” Smith finished up with her contact info: “You can call my lawyer, my best friend, my confidant Howard Stern. I think everyone has his number. He’ll give it out to you, Britney. Take cares [sic], and I hope that you do great on your second pregnancy. I’m sure you won’t even see this, but if you do, I’d really love to talk to you. Bye.” Alas, a Spears source tells Us no meeting ever took place. Says the source, “Britney is so wrapped up in her own world and herself that she just doesn’t care.”
The late Anna Nicole Smith has the right to rest in "peace and tranquility," a judge says, but the question over her burial is far from settled. The long-distance battles over what to do with Smith's body — and the paternity of her infant daughter — were taking place Tuesday in courtrooms in Florida and California. Smith's estranged mother, Virgie Arthur, and boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, were set to square off here. Lawyers for Stern were also set to argue in Los Angeles with those for Smith's ex-companion over who is the father of her infant daughter, Dannielynn. No immediate ruling on the burial question was expected from Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin. Without written proof of Smith's own wishes, Seidlin will be forced to hear testimony from those who claim to know what Smith wanted. Stern's expected court appearance in Florida came after Stephen Tunstall, the attorney representing Arthur, pushed for it Friday. Stern's attorneys resisted, but Seidlin ordered him to court. "I want him here," Tunstall said. "There is no reason why he can't be here." Stern wants Smith buried in the Bahamas in a plot that was purchased next to her son, Daniel, who died in September. Arthur wants her brought home to her native Texas. The mother has a perhaps unlikely ally in Larry Birkhead. A bodyguard, doctor, neighbor and friend all have submitted affidavits claiming Smith told them she wanted to be buried next to her son. Arthur insists, despite her estrangement, she has the right to bury her own daughter, not a man to whom Smith wasn't even married. "Since the dawn of civilization, the next of kin has been given the rights and responsibility of their dead," Tunstall said.
