Return to Transcripts main page
Showbiz Tonight
Battle Over Anna Nicole`s Daughter May Continue; Interview With "Brady Bunch" Star
Aired April 11, 2007 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
A.J. HAMMER, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT ANCHOR: The surprising phone call and message Britney Spears got from Justin Timberlake. And tonight I can tell you which bad star is going to play Anna Nicole Smith. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, more Anna Nicole baby shockers. Tonight, Larry Birkhead`s the daddy, but the battle over Dannielynn may not be over yet. And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT investigates the explosive new fight over Anna Nicole`s millions.
Plus SHOWBIZ TONIGHT asks the controversial question, should we feel sorry for Howard K. Stern? And is his health in danger?
Marcia Brady`s shocking drug and body image battles. Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the controversial stories of a lovely lady revealed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were a lot of rock bottoms. Just knowing that if I was to go on that I could die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: I go one-on-one with "Brady Bunches" Maureen McCormick. She really opens up about her secret fight with cocaine and bulimia. Marcia Brady`s startling stories, in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Hello. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. Tonight, the next chapter of the Anna Nicole Smith saga begins. If you think it all ended with the news that Larry Birkhead is the father of Anna Nicole`s baby, well, think again. There is so much still up in the air and the man who lost in this high stakes battle, Howard K. Stern.
Well, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you there`s now growing concern for his well-being. We`ll be getting into that in just a bit. But first, how is it that even though Larry Birkhead is the undisputed father of little Dannielynn, he still may not get custody?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY BIRKHEAD, FATHER OF DANNIELYNN: To have that heavy weight off your shoulders was just incredible. It was a magical moment.
HAMMER (voice-over): Live on NBC`s "TODAY SHOW," Larry Birkhead celebrated the end of a long and bitter fight to be acknowledged as the father of Anna Nicole Smith`s baby girl, Dannielynn.
BIRKHEAD: My baby is going to be coming home pretty soon.
HAMMER: And now that DNA tests have officially labeled him the father, there`s nothing left for him to do but pick up his child and ride off into the sun sunset, right? Wrong. As with everything in this Anna Nicole Smith drama, there are no simple endings.
HARVEY LEVIN, TMZ.COM: This case is far from over.
HAMMER: SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you there are plenty of unresolved issues that could lead to an explosive new chapter in this riveting saga. Everyone involved in this story remains in the Bahamas and even though Birkhead is now officially the father, there will still be a court hearing on Friday to determine who will raise Dannielynn.
LEVIN: In the Bahamas, the fact that someone is the biological father doesn`t necessarily end the matter.
HAMMER: And here`s where things get sticky, Anna Nicole Smith`s mother, Virgie Arthur, was fighting both Birkhead and Stern for custody of Dannielynn back when the two men were still fighting over which one of them impregnated Anna Nicole. Now that that`s settled, the big question is will Larry now have to fight Virgie Arthur for custody. She`s not saying.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re willing looking to work with Larry.
HAMMER: On the "Today Show," Larry said he wants to work with Virgie.
BIRKHEAD: I have no problem with anyone that has good intentions being allowed to visit the baby, and see the baby, and be a part of the baby`s life.
HAMMER: But when asked if he would share legal custody of Dannielynn with Virgie, Larry put his foot down.
BIRKHEAD: It would imply that I`m unfit as a parent, which I`m not.
HAMMER: TMZ.com`s Harvey Levin says expect another fight.
LEVIN: We`re also told that Virgie Arthur made it very clear in court yesterday, despite what people are saying now, that she had a problem with giving Larry sole custody. So Larry may duke it out with her.
HAMMER: Whoever gets Dannielynn will get a potentially rich seven- month-old. The key word is potentially. She could inherit Anna Nicole`s share of her late husband, oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall`s fortune. Over the last decade of her life, Smith and Marshall`s family fought and fought over the money all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
If that ever gets resolved, Dannielynn could get a fortune. But Kiri Blakely of "Forbes Magazine" Tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that`s a big if.
KIRI BLAKELY, "FORBES MAGAZINE": Dannielynn will inherit Anna Nicole`s estate. So whatever goes into Anna Nicole`s estate will go to Dannielynn. In terms of what Anna Nicole`s estate will be, whether it will be the half a billion dollars that she was fighting for or whether it will end up being nothing, if the case doesn`t go her way, that`s the question.
HAMMER: And what about poor Howard K. Stern? Now that his claims that he was Dannielynn`s daddy have been proven wrong, what happens to him now?
LEVIN: It`s unclear what happens to Howard K. Stern. I mean, he`s listed in the will as an executor, though it`s unclear if he would be an executor, given the fact that Dannielynn is getting the money completely outside the will. So we don`t know what`s going to happen there. Howard K. Stern was mentioned as a trustee for Daniel Stern, but not Dannielynn. So will he be the trustee if Dannielynn collects all that money from the Marshall estate? We don`t know.
HAMMER: So there are still lots of unresolved story lines in this drama. But now we know there`s a little girl who will be able to say for sure who her father is. We may not be able to call that the end of the Anna Nicole Smith saga. But we can call it progress.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Progress indeed. Certainly a very happy 24 hours for Larry Birkhead. But tonight there is trouble looming. What will he do if Anna Nicole`s estranged mom, Virgie Arthur, battles him for custody? And did he, in fact, strike some sort of a secret deal with Howard K. Stern. "Access Hollywood`s" Tony Potts got an exclusive interview with Larry Birkhead just after yesterday`s stunning announcement. Tony joining us tonight from the Bahamas.
Tony, I know that Larry had the chance to see baby Dannielynn for the first time as her official daddy. That has to have been one emotional moment. What was that meeting like?
TONY POTTS, "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD: It was amazing. He also brought along his sister, his twin brother and then their kids as well, so three kids, two boys and a girl, because the kids had all been asking yesterday, when can we see her. When we can we see Dannielynn? It was absolutely incredible. He changed his first diaper today. I can tell you they went again today -- Larry went today. He brought her some doll clothes. He also brought her some toys and a duck that goes quack. I`m assuming it`s not a real duck. At this point, it wouldn`t be a good thing for a seven month old.
But he also changed his first diaper and he got to feed her today. So the progress is being made. He is very happy. I saw him a little while ago, about two hours ago, and he was beaming from ear to ear. He`s loving this and he`s really ready for it.
HAMMER: And as you told us yesterday, Tony, he apparently is taking diaper-changing lessons. So I assume that`s going well. Now what an amazing scene. We`re watching it right now. Larry and Howard K. Stern doing something unbelievable, shaking hands and hugging after the hearing was over yesterday. There was a lot of speculation that Larry had made some sort of a deal with Howard. What did he tell you about all that?
POTTS: Well, I`ve been asking that question for a long time. There`s been speculation ever since Anna died that there`s been some sort of deal in the works. All along, he`s told me, no, there`s no deal. And then yesterday I asked him point blank and let`s take a look at his response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIRKHEAD: There`s no deal. I mean, you know, for a deal you have to offer someone something in exchange. And there has been no -- this is not if you do this, then I will give you the baby or anything like that. It`s just -- its on issue. It`s paternity and it was established and there`s really nothing to negotiate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POTTS: You know, I can tell you, A.J., that if you look at the body language of that hug, it`s not between two old friends. I`ll guarantee you that much.
HAMMER: Yes, there was always a lot of contention for very good reason between those two guys. Obviously, Tony, a lot of people really concerned about what little Dannielynn`s life is going to be like. I mean, just imagine, she`s forever going to be targeted by the paparazzi. Larry`s going to have to work extra hard to shield her from the chaos. I imagine he has talked to you about what kind of a plan he has in place to do that, because that`s going to be a tough road.
POTTS: Yes, he`ll have family around him. The ironic thing is, A.J., he used to take pictures like this. He worked a lot for the Splash News Agency, which releases a lot of pictures these days. I would imagine the smart thing for him to would be to have one of his guys take a picture of he and Dannielynn together and then give it to Splash, and then have splash sell it that way, because somebody`s going to make money on the picture. Sell it that way, and then put that money, after Splash takes its fee, of course, and then put it in a trust for Dannielynn.
That would be the best way to do it, and people would hopefully not hound him too much for too long.
HAMMER: Has he indicated to you that he may do that? Because, after all, this long custody battle and all the fighting that`s been going on, hey, this has not been a free ride. He`s got to pay for this somehow.
POTTS: Yes, absolutely. And I can also tell you, A.J., people have approached him with book deals and other things as well. He`s put all that off to the side. Obviously there`s great interest in that, possible movie deal down the road as well. We know the Anna Nicole Story is being shot. You guys mentioned that some time ago as well on your broadcast.
So, I think they should do that. I`m going to see him actually in about an hour or so, so maybe I`ll mention that to him. But I know he`s thinking along those terms, of how that`s going to all play out. he`s going to have all his Kentucky family come out to L.A. with him when little Dannielynn comes back. And by the way, I should tell you, A.J., I think this should be a one or two week deal.
I mean, she is seven months old, OK. For five and six days at a time during her life Anna Nicole and Howard left her. So it`s not like this little six or seven-month-old -- she`s had three different nannies. So she`s used to change. The longer she stays, I think the worse it is. A week or two, you can get the routine down. I`ve got two kids. They don`t remember anything when they`re six or seven months old. For the most part, get her out of here, get her back, and get her into the routine, is what I say.
HAMMER: And Tony, we were going to listen to some sound that we don`t have time for, but what did he tell you in terms of his anticipation for Friday, very quickly, and the fight that could be looming with Virgie Arthur for custody?
POTTS: He told me that he`s willing to sit down with her minus the lawyers and just talk it out face to face. He wants her to be involved. If she fights him, and there`s that animosity there, it`s going to be tough for him to welcome her in as a grandmother who`s caring, and without issues.
HAMMER: "Access Hollywood`s" Tony Potts, thanks as always for joining us from the Bahamas tonight. I appreciate it.
POTTS: Always a pleasure, A.J.
HAMMER: Much more on this coming up. Now, a lot of people have been angry with Howard K. Stern, the way he`s been fighting for the baby. But coming up, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT asking the controversial question, should we feel sorry for him and could he be in danger? That`s at 31 past the hour.
And you won`t believe who surprised Britney Spears with a phone call? Justin Timberlake. Why he called, and his important message for Brit. That`s coming up as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were a lot of rock bottoms. Just knowing that if I was to go on that I could die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Those are the words from Marcia Brady, believe it or not. Her shocking drug and body image battle. Tonight, I go one-on-one with "Brady Bunch" star Maureen McCormick. Her secret struggles with cocaine and bulimia. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is coming right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. Well, tonight we know who`s going to play Anna Nicole Smith in an upcoming movie that we first told you about a couple of weeks ago on the show. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has learned that singer Willa Ford has landed the role. Now you might remember Will from ABC`s "Dancing with the Stars," and she also had a hit song called "I Want to be Bad." That was a few years ago.
The movie is supposed to start shooting this weekend in L.A. It covers pretty all of Anna`s life, from teenager to Guess model and Playboy Playmate, her marriage to Texas billionaire J. Howard Marshall, of course the death of her son Daniel, and her own shocking death. The film`s producer tells us "Anna Nicole" could be out as early as this June. And he`s already got a lot of big screen distribution offers for it.
Now let`s take a look. We have Willa on the left, Anna on the right. As we`re looking at it, not a perfect match. I`m sure with makeup and hair, they will figure something out.
Now on to the shocking story of a child star who battled not only a drug addiction but a painful eating disorder as well. Maureen McCormick -- you, of course, know her as Marcia Brady from "The Brady Bunch -- opened up to me about her cocaine addiction, and her struggle with bulimia. She told me what it was like to hit rock bottom before she got the help she needed. Maureen is starring in the new VH1 reality show "Celebrity Fit Club," and we also got to talking to her about how she kept her eating disorder in check while taking on a grueling fitness routine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: I`m sitting across from you, as great as you`re feeling, and you truly have a sparkle in your eye. I mean, the energy, it`s coming right off you Maureen.
MAUREEN MCCORMICK, MARCIA BRADY: It`s coming off you A.J.
HAMMER: Well, thank you. But I think a lot of people would find it hard to believe that all the way back in 1974, when "The Brady Bunch" ended, you`re 17 years old. You began a battle with bulimia which lasted for 10 years. In addition to battling the bulimia, a six-year battle with cocaine. That is tough. How did you deal with that and how bad did it get?
MCCORMICK: It got really bad. I`m writing about it now in a book. It was awful. It took over my life. And it was an awful time.
HAMMER: What was that rock bottom moment for you?
MCCORMICK: Rock bottom, there were a lot of rock bottoms. But one was just knowing that if I was to go on that I could die.
HAMMER: Is it something you say it took over your life, is that financially, relationships?
MCCORMICK: Everything. Everything.
HAMMER: And you finally were able to come to grips with it and turn it around?
MCCORMICK: Yes, thank god.
HAMMER: How did that happen?
MCCORMICK: Through therapy and through rehab. They have them everywhere nowadays, but, you know, back then, it wasn`t as talked about. But that really helped a lot.
HAMMER: So you did enter a rehab program?
MCCORMICK: Yes.
HAMMER: And that was part of the key?
MCCORMICK: It was part of the key, yes. It was definitely part of the key. Yes, I had to totally disassociate with everyone who I was hanging out with and get a whole new set of friends and totally change my life.
HAMMER: The bulimia, what really was it that set that off?
MCCORMICK: It wasn`t being on the show. It was peer pressure at high school. I was with a group of girlfriends and we had a lot of ice cream and a lot of cookies and somebody said, hey, we can eat this and we`re not going to -- nothing will happen to us. And I was amazed that you could even do that. And I`m a very addictive personality. And it was just something that kind of took me over for a while.
HAMMER: For a while, for ten years, as I mentioned.
MCCORMICK: Yes.
HAMMER: So how did you finally deal with it, because it is an incredible pressure to try to look a certain way, and when you realize you have this sort of out, it`s something that you can stick with, as you said? How did you deal with it?
MCCORMICK: Well, I had already stopped doing cocaine. And because of that, I had learned a lot of steps and a lot of things that I could use, but I would have to say the thing that helped me most was just believing in god again and just going, OK, I need help here. I can`t do this on my own.
HAMMER: You do frequently hear how religion plays such a big part in people overcoming their addictions, whatever they may be, or any diseases they may battle.
MCCORMICK: Absolutely. I`m writing a book about all of it soon.
HAMMER: Is the bulimia something that you deal with every day of your life still? Is it something that`s always with you?
MCCORMICK: Once you`re an addictive personality, it`s something that -- not every day, but it`s always a part of you. And I think it always will be.
HAMMER: Bulimia is the pressure -- it comes from that pressure to be thin.
MCCORMICK: Right.
HAMMER: And it is something, as you said, that you always deal with. So it`s fascinating you would do a show like celebrity fit club, which, on top of a pressure you may or may not already feel, you on national TV are put out there to lose weight.
MCCORMICK: Right.
HAMMER: Were you at all fearful, going into that, that kind of pressure would trigger something?
MCCORMICK: So many people have asked me that, and no, I wasn`t afraid of that. That was quite a while ago now. So that wasn`t really a concern of mine. My concern was just being totally humiliated in front of millions of people and having to be on the pedestal that was going around and around so slowly, in these really tight clothes when I was feeling really overweight. You know, I felt naked. But it was a very, very cathartic experience. It was incredible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: So after Maureen McCormick left the studio, everybody was asking me, how old is she? How old could she possibly be? You know how old she is? She`s 50 years old. You guys believe that. Everybody found that hard to believe. She looks fantastic. Maureen also has a little bit of advice for young stars like Britney Spears, who have been in rehab. She says that staying away from bad influences and old haunts is what helped her overcome her drug addiction. The season of "Celebrity Fit Club," starring Maureen McCormick, among others, will be premiering April 22nd on VH1.
Well, you won`t believe who surprised Britney Spears with a phone call? Justin Timberlake. Why he called and his important message for Brit is coming up.
I`ve got your pictures of Marcia Cross`s twin baby girls, simply adorable. Plus the "Desperate Housewives" star is speaking out about the emotional decision that she had to make before getting pregnant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would be on a serious suicide watch with Howard K. Stern at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: A lot of people have been angry with Howard K. Stern, with the way he was fighting for Anna Nicole`s baby, Dannielynn. Coming up, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking the controversial questions, should we feel sorry for him and could his health actually be in danger?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. This is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. And tonight, we`re giving you your very first look at "Desperate Housewives" star`s new babies. Marcia Cross speaking out about her desperate desire to have kids, and her scary and quite difficult pregnancy.
She tells "People Magazine" that being a mother has been absolutely wonderful, even better than she imagined. Marcia and her husband welcomed fraternal twins, Eden and Savannah, back in February. But it was a struggle getting there. Marcia, who`s about to turn 45, desperately wanted to have kids and reveals that she had in vitro fertilization a week after getting married last year.
Now, despite only having about a four percent chance of the in vitro working, it did, but there were complications. She was ordered into bed rest, which got a lot of attention. "Desperate Housewives" actually moved the filming of the show to her house. And then, just four weeks before her due date, Marcia was diagnosed with preclamsia, which is a dangerously high blood pressure situation, that could really threaten her and the babies. She did have an emergency C-Section.
Fortunately, it all worked out. After all that, Maria doesn`t rule out having more kids. And you can read more of Marcia`s remarkable story in "People Magazine" when it hits newsstands on Friday.
Well, you`re not going to believe who called and surprised Britney Spears? Justin Timberlake, of all people. We`ll tell you why Justin dialed up Brit coming up.
Also, uh-oh, are Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony done-zo. Are we about to say so long to this lovely Latin couple? The SHOWBIZ TONIGHT Truth Squad is going to be checking out this shocking story in a few moments. We`ve also got this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would be on a serious suicide watch with Howard K. Stern at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Now we all know a lot of people have been just angry with Howard K. Stern, with the way he was fighting for Anna Nicole`s baby, Dannielynn. But coming up, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking the controversial question, should we feel sorry for him, and could his health actually be in danger? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is coming right back.
(NEWS BREAK)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. It`s 30 minutes past the hour. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. This is TV`s most provocative entertainment news show.
Still to come tonight - ah, do you remember the good old days when Britney Spears was just a fresh-faced kid dating fellow former Mouseketeer Justin Timberlake? Well, yes, times have changed. But we found out today that Justin actually called Britney pretty recently. What in the world did he talk about that? We will tell you, coming up.
Also on the way, there are always tabloid stories that these guys, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, their marriage on the rocks. But now there`s actually reports that they`re calling it quits. Now we here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT certainly don`t believe everything we read, so we checked it out. The SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Truth Squad" is going to tell you what`s really up with the two of them. And that is still ahead.
But first tonight, the word is out: Larry Birkhead, of course, is the daddy. And a new family is in Dannielynn`s future. She`ll soon leave behind the caretaker that she`s known since birth, Howard K. Stern. This is a man that`s been a part of the Anna Nicole saga for over a decade.
There is no denying it: Howard has suffered tremendous loss in the last seven months - more than most people could even fathom. So tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking: should we be concerned for Stern?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOWARD K. STERN, ANNA NICOLE SMITH`S FORMER COMPANION: I`m obviously very disappointed. But my feelings for Dannielynn have not changed. I am not going to fight Larry Birkhead on custody.
HAMMER (voice-over): That was a beat-up looking Howard Stern, a man who has lost everything. First, Daniel Smith back in September.
STERN: Daniel to me was a great friend, a brother. I was probably the man around him the most in - in recent years. And I loved Daniel.
HAMMER: Then his lover and life partner Anna Nicole Smith this past February.
STERN: She was my best friend, my lover, the mother of my daughter. She was everything to me. I mean, literally everything. My whole world.
HAMMER: And now Dannielynn. He is legally tied to her - his name appears on the baby`s birth certificate - but we now know the 7-month-old girl is not biologically his.
DR. MICHAEL BAIRD, ANALYZED RESULTS OF THE DNA TEST: Larry was determined to be the biological father based on the DNA testing. He had a combined paternity index of over 11, 515,000, for a probability of paternity of 99.99999 percent.
HAMMER: You can`t deny numbers like that. And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you, experts are worried this new development could trigger something more troubling.
Clinical psychologist Dr. Judy Kuriansky.
DR. JUDY KURIANSKY, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Losing the baby is the absolute last straw of it all. He`s lost everything in the public`s eyes, in his own his eyes, and in his life that built him up, that gave him some kind of ego strength. All of that is gone. And I worry for him. And that can lead to total disaster - emotional breakdown for sure.
HAMMER: The same type of breakdown we saw when Anna Nicole lost her son, the rock in her life, Daniel. The similarity is hard to miss. Howard even mentioned it in his eulogy to Anna Nicole, saying - quote - "I understand how you felt when Daniel died, because you were my rock. And now my heart is empty. I wish God took me instead. When my work is done, I promise you, I will come to you again - both you and Daniel. I love you."
So should those around Howard be worried that these tragic, life- altering, emotional losses may be too much for him to bear?
KURIANSKY: I would be on a serious suicide watch with Howard K. Stern at this point. And the fact he`s lost everything. His fantasy of some life that was going to be charming and exciting and wealthy and filled with the thrill of Anna Nicole is coming to an end like a house of cards. And what that does is start to unravel in his mind.
I don`t think he`s strong enough at all to hold up under all of this.
STERN: The way that the media has treated everything I think has been beyond irresponsible, at times malicious.
HAMMER: Howard`s fight doesn`t end with the loss of Dannielynn. He has now hired another attorney to fight what he calls "malicious attacks" thrown his way in the wake of Anna and Daniel`s death. Two deaths both caused by drug overdoes - one accidental, the other in question.
The one common link: Howard K. Stern. The court of public opinion has not been pretty.
KURIANSKY: He`s in the thick of such trauma right now over the fact that he`s being blamed for everything.
HAMMER: So SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is asking the question: should Howard continue to fight, or just go away, and for the first time in a long time, just worry about himself and his own mental health?
KURIANSKY: If I were Howard K. Stern`s family, I would be very concerned about what he might do. I would keep my eyes on him 24.7, never let him out of my sight. And he should be nurtured and kept in a quiet environment and start to build up that somebody cares about him, and how is he going to live his life.
HAMMER: An increasingly difficult challenge for a man whose dreams of a storybook life have turned into a Hollywood drama, with an uncertain ending.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HAMMER: Well, concerns about Howard K. Stern aside, there are other pressing matters in the whole Anna Nicole Smith saga that still remain unresolved. Will Larry Birkhead actually get custody of Dannielynn now that he has been proven the father? And let`s not forget, we are still waiting to find out the circumstances surrounding the death of Anna Nicole`s son, Daniel.
Joining me tonight in New York, Jami Floyd, host of Court TV`s "Jami Floyd Best Defense."
And in Hollywood, investigative journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell, who`s also the author of "Secrets Can Be Murder." That`s due out this summer.
Ladies, it`s good to see you both.
Jami, let me start with you and let`s get this hearing thing out of the way, because we need to clear up the fact that a lot of people thought that once the paternity matter ended, which it did yesterday - it was settled - the whole issue of who was going to take Dannielynn home wasn`t going to be in question.
So why the need for this hearing on Friday? Is it just a - just to put a cap on things legally, or is this really a chance Birkhead won`t - won`t get custody of his child?
JAMI FLOYD, HOST, COURT TV`S "BEST DEFENSE": We are so far from finished with this custody matter. I know that everyone thinks paternity is the end of the line, and here in the United States, it pretty much would be. But not in the Bahamas, and that`s where the baby resides. That`s where the baby born. And Anna knew it, and Howard knew it. And that`s why they had the baby there.
Custody in the Bahamas is about many things, not just paternity. And yes, it will be a big factor. And yes, Howard K. Stern has said he will no longer fight for custody. But Virgie Arthur is still in the picture. And in the Bahamas, women are the preferred caretakers, like it or not. It`s a different system of law with a different values system underneath. And so we`re far from finished with the custody battle.
HAMMER: You mention her name, we got to talk about her - Virgie Arthur, Anna Nicole`s estranged mother. Now she told our producers she wasn`t going to put up a fight. Her lawyer yesterday appeared and suggested that Virgie should share custody. Larry has said he won`t do that; he`s - wants her in the - in the - in the life of Dannielynn, but he doesn`t want to share custody.
Jane, what is the deal with Virgie Arthur? This is a woman that Anna Nicole despised.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Well, Anna Nicole`s apparent hatred of her mother may have had less to do with her mother and more to do with drugs. A hallmark of addiction is that you have a bad or no relationship with your parent. Most addicts have bad or no relationships with their parents.
But those parents still love their addicted children. I think Virgie Arthur did love her daughter. She`s lost her daughter; she`s lost her grandson. And now she wants to hang on to her granddaughter, the only connection she has to her dead daughter. And it`s understandable that she doesn`t want it to be left up to somebody`s whims so that she`s walking on eggshells. She wants this to be formalized in some way so that she knows she will always have a relationship.
HAMMER: Yes, a lot of people have suggested otherwise. But I do hope Virgie Arthur`s motives are pure.
So now we have a couple of things settled. We know how Anna Nicole died; we know who Dannielynn`s father is.
Still unresolved though, the circumstances surrounding the death of Anna Nicole`s son, Daniel. That inquest is still under way, and - and now everybody is going to be focusing their laser attention on that.
So Jami, this whole thing with the inquest really does have the potential to get explosive, doesn`t it?
FLOYD: Oh, it sure does. And - and that`s far from over also. In fact, it really hasn`t even begun. A jury has been picked, but there are some battled on that front. Howard K. Stern`s lawyers aren`t sure that the jury can be fair and impartial because of all the publicity. And it`s a fair point. So that`s got to be litigated.
And then there is the underlying question of what killed Daniel Smith, and - and really, how he came upon the drugs. Because we know what he had in his system. The question is, how did he get it?
And - and that`s a - again, a different process in the Bahamas than we have here. And so we did have one result related to Anna Nicole. We may have a different result in the Bahamas related to Daniel. And you can bet - you`re right, every eye is going to be on that inquest.
HAMMER: And I think there`s a Howard K. Stern factor here, too. Because as we know, he continuously was throwing up roadblocks in the paternity battle. He`s already causing delays in the inquest.
Jane, why is he getting in the way still?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Because he`s a lawyer. He`s a lawyer by training, so he runs into a problem, his natural instinct is to do a legal maneuver. That`s been his pattern.
And I think with this coroner`s inquest coming up, he is really behaving more like a defendant, even though technically, he is just a witness. And that`s because he knows that he could become a target of this whole thing. And I can understand why he wants to try to make sure that these jurors, who are going to possibly judge his behavior, are not influenced by all the massive publicity, much of it negative, against Howard K. Stern.
HAMMER: Jane, let me throw one more thing out at you before we go, because there`s still the sticky little matter of the hundreds of millions of bucks that Dannielynn stands to inherit. You can`t help but notice there are a lot of people who have died in the course of that money sought after.
Is - is there just a curse that follows that money trail, Jane?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, the old clich', money doesn`t buy happiness, that seems to be the motto of this case. Not only is the oil tycoon himself, J. Howard Marshall passed away obviously, but his son, who was battling Anna Nicole Smith, died, Anna Nicole Smith died. Her son died. So a lot of death here.
You have to wonder if the son and Anna Nicole had made a deal a long time ago, would they all be alive?
HAMMER: Jane Velez-Mitchell, Jami Floyd, let us hope we have more answers than questions when that hearing finally happens on Friday in the custody matter, at least. I appreciate you joining us tonight.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thanks, A.J.
HAMMER: And we`ve been asking you to vote on our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Question of the Day": "Howard K. Stern Not the Father: Do you feel sorry for him?"
Let us know by voting at cnn.com/showbiztonight. You can also write to us at showbiztonight@cnn.com. We`ll get into your e-mails tomorrow.
And remember, we are the only entertainment news show where you can express your opinion on video, so do it. Send us a video e-mail by going to the Web site, cnn.com/showbiztonight.
Why in the world did Justin Timberlake call his ex? No, not Cameron Diaz; talking about Britney Spears. I`m going to tell you about that little phone call, and who Justin is hanging out with these days. That`s coming up.
Plus, has the fairy tale ended for Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony? Are they really calling it quits. Well, the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Truth Squad" is on that case, and that is still ahead.
And, the Don Imus outrage explodes. Advertisers now pulling the plug from his show. The controversy certainly shows no sign of letting up. Could this be the end of the I-man? That`s next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A.J. to desk with track-E (ph) for the Justin Timberlake story.
Effect black now (INAUDIBLE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fade up, go 3 music under. Stand by, A.J. Pre-set Camera 1. Open his mike. And dissolve. Go.
HAMMER: Thank you, director Gnarls Wegmann (ph) and Tiffany (ph).
Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
When Britney Spears` behavior started to get more and more bizarre, well everybody was concerned about her. And as it turns out, that included her ex, Justin Timberlake. Justin tells "People" magazine that he called Britney because he was really worried about her. Britney checked into rehab in February, and Justin says it seems like she is on the right track.
He says - quote - "She is a great woman. I`m rooting for her. It seems like she`s getting everything under control."
"People" magazine has also reported that Justin has been spending time with Jessica Biel these days. A source told the magazine that he invited Jessica to a barbecue party at his house, and things got - quote - "hot and heavy."
Tonight, the Don Imus mess continues, and it`s just getting worse, much worse, as late today NBC announced it was canceling the MSNBC simulcast of Don Imus` radio show. The problems started for Imus a week ago, when he insulted the Rutgers women`s basketball team with racial and sexist slur which I choose to no longer repeat. I think they`re out there enough.
A big shot at CBS, the network that syndicates his radio show, also wants Imus gone for good.
Joining me tonight from San Antonio, Texas, Joe Pagliarulo, host of the "San Antonio`s First News" on WOAI radio.
Here in New York, Lola Oguinnake of "The New York Times."
Good to see you both.
JOE PAGLIARULO, WOAI/KTRH RADIO HOST: Good to be here, A.J.
LOLA OGUINNAKE, "NEW YORK TIMES": Thank you.
HAMMER: All right, Joe, let`s get into this. Imus has apologized. He`s apologized over and over. He - he`s been appearing contrite at every opportunity.
PAGLIARULO: Right.
HAMMER: He`s going to be meeting with the team.
What do you think? At this point, should he just kind of shut up and - and go on with his suspension? Or does he really need to keep riding the apology train?
PAGLIARULO: Right, he`s got to shut up now. He`s got to stop appearing on other talk show host`s talk shows. I`m not sure why he started apologizing to Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. I think he called my mother and apologized to her, too.
The bottom line here is, this guy went after some young ladies that didn`t deserve to be gone after. And he said some things that were horrible. They were abhorrent. He shouldn`t have said it. He should have apologized to them. He should have set up a private meeting with them.
Rutgers isn`t that from New York City, where Don Imus does the show. He should have gone there; he should have met with them way before this. He ruined their Easter. It was a stupid thing to say.
But the more Don Imus apologizes, the more this thing steamrolls for him. And he - he needs to knock it off now.
HAMMER: Yes, it almost seemed like he just kind of panicked, and was doing whatever he could to try to get it under control as quickly as possible.
And - and Lola, we`ve heard Imus said he`s not a racist. He - he had repeatedly, "I`m a good person who`s said a bad thing."
Yet for years, he has said disparaging things about - well, equal opportunity here - about black people, Jewish people, Asian people. As he puts it, all of that has been in the context of a comedy show. And again, he says he`s not racist. But can you - can it really draw a distinction, Lola, before you realize there`s some kind of a problem here?
OGUINNAKE: Well, if this was an isolated incident, I don`t think that people would be coming down on him so hard. But it - like you said, he does have a history of doing this. And this dates back over two decades. You know, he`s talked badly about people who are African-American. He`s talked badly about Asian - Asians. And yes, he is an equal-opportunity offender. But that doesn`t make it any more correct.
And I think that people are finally fed up with this - the Michael Richards, the Isaiah Washington, the Mel Gibson. I think people saying, `Enough is enough.` Yes, you can be provocative. Yes, you can use comedy to talk about social issues. But when something is not funny, and all you`re doing is race-baiting and making people feel badly - then, no, people don`t want to hear it anymore.
HAMMER: Yes, I - I mean, I have a hard time with the distinction that - you know, it - it just kind of slipped out. It was not premeditated.
PAGLIARULO: It didn`t slip out.
HAMMER: Well, no, no, he - he did not go on the air. I do believe he did not go on the air at that moment, Joe, and say, `I am going to say this obnoxious, racist slur.`
PAGLIARULO: I - I agree.
(CROSSTALK)
OGUINNAKE: But he has to deal with the consequences.
(CROSSTALK)
OGUINNAKE: And people are - and people are not going to let him off the hook.
HAMMER: Yes.
OGUINNAKE: I think he`s been allowed to say things.
(CROSSTALK)
PAGLIARULO: .has he, Lola?
OGUINNAKE: No, he hasn`t.
PAGLIARULO: He better now have, because I`m not taking that.
OGUINNAKE: You`re not taking that, right?
HAMMER: I - I think certainly his threshold will be raised when he does go back on the air. But I - I got to say, there`s a chance something would just slip out again.
Joe, let me - let me talk about the fact that all these people, Al Sharpton among them, calling for Imus to be fired. A lot of people are saying, `Not for Sharpton to decide, or the others.` Advertisers now are running, as I mentioned. We got Sprint, Proctor & Gamble, General Motors.
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: So in the - in the end, Joe, is it - isn`t this really going to be a business decision in terms of what ends up happening with him?
(CROSSTALK)
OGUINNAKE: .a business decision.
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: Joe - Joe, jump in there.
PAGLIARULO: Listen, advertisers have every right to put their - their ads on my show, on Imus` show, on anybody`s show. When they go in though - and you - you said something a little earlier that made a lot of sense. He`s got a three-decade history of saying things just like this. Some of these things even worse than what he said the other day, as bad as what he said the other day was.
OGUINNAKE: Absolutely.
PAGLIARULO: These - these sponsors knew that going on. They`re - now they`re pulling out because Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and the entire Rutgers team came out - and the entire nation appears to be saying, `Man, what an idiot, Imus.` And now they`re backing up.
Listen, the sponsors have every right to pull off if they want to. That`s up to them. This is going to be a money decision. Now that a CBS executive is starting to complain about it as well, I find that interesting, too.
Back to - if - if I can just very quickly, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson jumping on this to me, makes this thing -- it - it - it muddies the waters, if you will, because this is about the Rutgers basketball team. This is about what this guy said about women who didn`t deserve it. I think they`re jumping on this for political gain.
And by the way, these words, and the words that you don`t want to say, A.J., anymore - we`ve said them over and over now just reporting this story - these words come from hip hop culture. They come from Eminem and Jay-Z.
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: Joe, I - I only have 30 seconds, but you know, I want to - I want to real quickly get to that point of the double standard that people have implying, and that Imus has called for in terms of "hos" and those words being used in hip hop culture.
PAGLIARULO: Right.
HAMMER: Ten seconds, Lola: what`s the (INAUDIBLE) - what`s the story.
OGUINNAKE: I think that`s a big old red herring he`s.
(CROSSTALK)
OGUINNAKE: It is. What does that have to.
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: I am out of time..
(CROSSTALK)
HAMMER: I appreciate you both joining us tonight. We are done. I`m sorry.
There could be trouble in paradise between Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. And JLo and Marc calling it quits? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Truth Squad" on the case, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
And it is time now to call in the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Truth Squad." This is where our crack team of celebrity investigators set the record straight on Hollywood`s biggest mysteries.
And tonight, we open the case file on Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony. There are reports that their marriage is on the rocks. "OK!" magazine says the two have called it quits because Anthony is controlling and Lopez misses the glamorous that she had before she was married.
But is it true? Nope. Lopez`s rep tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT - and I quote - "the story is complete hogwash" - end quote. And there have it; the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT "Truth Squad" once again separates the facts from the hogwash.
Tonight, one-on-one with the lovely, the talented, the Oscar-winning Halle Berry. I sat down with Halle, who is promoting her upcoming movie, "Perfect Stranger," co-starring Bruce Willis. And we got to talking about how she`s been so open in the past with her struggles with depression. And I asked her if she thinks there`s a positive effect when celebrities open up about such personal issues.
Here`s what she had to say:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HALLE BERRY, ACTRESS: I see a positive effect in people speaking about their human foibles. You know, we`re all human, and we`re all trying to get this life right. And we`re all trying to work at being better all the time. So what other human beings - and many that you admire and that you respect or that you read about all the time - when they`re able to share, you know, their ups and their downs, I think we as people learn from that, and we draw strength from hearing other people`s stories and understanding what their journey was. It gives us hope that we, too, can survive.
And we all go through ups and downs. None of us are, you know, immune to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: She is such a class act, and I must say, easy on the eyes.
Halle Berry`s new movie is called "Perfect Stranger." It will be landing in theaters on Friday.
Coming up tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, I`ll have much more of my interview with Halle, including what she had to say about turning 40, and exactly what that means for her career as an actress. She`s got a great outlook on life, and you will hear right from her mouth. Halle Berry on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT tomorrow.
Here`s what else is coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT:
Tomorrow, supermodel Paulina Porizkova is here. Lots of beauty on the program. Yes, she was on "Dancing With the Stars." We`ll certainly have to talk to her about that. But check this out: she also has her first novel coming out. It`s called "Model Summer." Some really juicy stuff in there about the modeling industry`s dark side. Pauline Porizkova tomorrow in the interview you`ll see only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
Also tomorrow, Larry`s the daddy. We know Birkhead is Dannielynn Smith`s father, but will he be a good one? That`s tomorrow on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
And that`s it for tonight on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Thanks a lot for watching. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
"GLENN BECK" coming up next, right after the latest from CNN Headline News.
END
