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Showbiz Tonight
Virgie Arthur Continues to Lose Battles For Baby Dannielynn; Miss America Nabs Child Predators
Aired April 30, 2007 - 23:00 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: Oh boy, Britney Spears has a run-in with the police. We`ve got the details. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York?
BROOKE ANDERSON, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT ANCHOR: And the controversy over a child star who`s getting completely naked for a movie. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.
HAMMER: On SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, angry at Anna Nicole Smith`s mother. Tonight, why SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has been overwhelmed with outrage over Virgie Arthur`s battle for Anna Nicole`s baby.
Also tonight SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the revealing look at Anna Nicole`s last movie, the shocking never-before-heard Anna Nicole stories from the people that were right there on set.
Tonight, the remarkable Miss America sex sting to catch child sex predators. Tonight, Miss America, Lauren Nelson, is right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Her amazing, dramatic story at how she teamed up with "America`s Most Wanted" to catch suspected sex sickos. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT uncovers the dangerous, secret undercover sex investigation.
Hello, I`m A.J. Hammer in New York.
ANDERSON: Hi there everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson in Hollywood. And coming up shortly, the Miss America sex sting. Miss America is right here to reveal how she caught suspected child sex predators for a television show. It`s the interview you`ll see right here only on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
HAMMER: Fascinating. But first tonight, Virgie, give it a rest. That is the message SHOWBIZ TONIGHT viewers are sending to Anna Nicole`s mother, Virgie Arthur. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT has been overwhelmed by outrageous reaction to Virgie refusing to back down in her custody battle over Anna Nicole`s baby, Dannielynn.
ANDERSON: And I have to tell you this, A.J., a lot of people are saying the main reason for Virgie doing this could be money, the potential fortune Dannielynn might inherit someday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): The long soap opera we know as the Anna Nicole Smith case has had its share of bad guys that Anna Nicole watchers love to hate. There was Howard K. Stern. There was Anna Nicole herself. And who can forget that overly talkative judge?
JUDGE LARRY SEIDLIN, FAMILY COURT JUDGE: I like your style. I like your style.
ANDERSON: But now, just when you thought this story was finally coming to a conclusion, some are saying a new bad guy has emerged. It`s Anna Nicole`s mom, Virgie Arthur. In recent days, Virgie has repeatedly dragged Larry Birkhead to court in the Bahamas, even though he`s been officially been named the father of Anna Nicole`s baby, Dannielynn.
LARRY BIRKHEAD, FATHER OF DANNIELYNN: My baby`s going to be coming home soon.
ANDERSON: But not as fast as Larry had hoped. Virgie Arthur has been trying to get courts in the Bahamas to prevent Birkhead from taking his daughter back to the United States pending Arthur`s attempts to be named Dannielynn`s guardian should anything ever happen to Birkhead. With that and her other custody demands, Virgie is single handedly stretching out this Anna Nicole court saga, making it clear that Virgie`s not going to win any grandma of the year awards.
TV pundits are starting to turn on her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think she just cut of her nose despite her face today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know she doesn`t have a leg to stand on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She may be kind of screwing herself, to be quite frank.
ANDERSON: Judges in the Bahamas are getting sick of her, as we saw in court last Friday.
ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, COURT TV ANCHOR: The judge said to her, this is ridiculous. Not only is this somewhat frivolous, but we`re going to allow Larry Birkhead to go back to the United States and take his rightful daughter with him. And then went ahead and slapped her with a 3,000 dollar fine for wasting the court`s time.
ANDERSON: And you, our SHOWBIZ TONIGHT viewers, are flooding us with e-mails, telling us that you`re getting fed up with Virgie`s antics.
Carrie in Wisconsin writes that Virgie, quote, "is getting too damned greedy and she will end up not being able to see her grand daughter at all if she keeps up with all of her nonsense.
And Carol in Massachusetts writes, quote, "tell Virgie to give it up. What a disgrace she is to motherhood.
BANFIELD: She has her critics. Some say she only wants it because she wants the money.
ANDERSON: Namely the hundreds of million of dollars Dannielynn could inherit once the battle over the estate of Anna Nicole`s late husband is settled. When SHOWBIZ TONIGHT asked our viewers this question, Anna Nicole Smith`s mom fights for her grand baby, is it all about the money, a whopping 95 percent of you said yes?
BANFIELD: The perception is she`s gone too far, it`s gone on too long. Larry`s been closed out of the rightful life of his child for a long time and he should have this opportunity. No one should squander that for him.
ANDERSON: Virgie`s antics are starting to grate on the normally genial Larry Birkhead. Just recently Birkhead was saying he wants Virgie in his and Dannielynn`s lives. Well, that`s over. "Access Hollywood`s" Tony Potts, who has frequently interviewed Birkhead, tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that Birkhead has had it up to here with Virgie`s interference.
TONY POTTS, "ACCESS HOLLYWOOD": I know that he`s like, look, how can I trust her, is what he thinks now because in trying to get shared custody, what grandparent does that.
ANDERSON: The sad irony is with her antics and her efforts to keep a man from going home with his child, Virgie Arthur may very well put her future relationship with her granddaughter at serious risk.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: And SHOWBIZ TONIGHT got this news, Birkhead`s attorney tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that Larry Birkhead has obtained a passport for Dannielynn and plans to take the baby to the states, quote, very soon. No one is confirming exactly when that will be. But the attorney tells SHOWBIZ TONIGHT that Birkhead must bring the infant back to the Bahamas for a custody hearing on June 8th.
HAMMER: So is Virgie Arthur the bad guy here -- or I should say the bad grandma -- or is she just doing what any grandmother would do? Joining me tonight, two people never afraid to share an opinion. From Los Angeles, investigative journalist Jane Velez-Mitchell, whose also the author of this soon to be released book, "Secrets Can be Murder." And joining us from Hollywood tonight, investigative journalist Pat Lalama.
Pat, Jane, you both heard what our viewers said in the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT poll; 95 percent. That`s not a small margin. They`re saying that Virgie Arthur in it for the money. Jane, do you agree?
JANE VELEZ MITCHELL, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: You have some very smart viewers, A.J., because what other reason could there be? None of this had to happen. Larry Birkhead from the outset said that Virgie could be a part of this child`s life. He was inviting her into their world and saying come on by any time. You`re the grandma. So she already had the access.
But it wasn`t enough for her. She wants something in writing. And the only conclusion you can come to is because she`s after the money.
HAMMER: Pat Lalama, dollar signs in Virgie Arthur`s eyes here?
PAT LALAMA, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: I don`t see any more dollar signs than anybody else in this equation except for maybe Larry, who`s the biological father, and we can understand some of that. But come on -- although I agree with Jane pretty much, I do think, you know, Virgie may have a lot of guilt. We know the allegations that have been placed upon her by the now deceased Anna Nicole. Maybe she feels like she wants to make up for some bad parenting. And there is such a thing as grandparents` rights. It does seem like she`s pushing it in a strange direction. Why didn`t all of this happen before. Maybe it`s a last desperate attempt, but I think we ought to at least hear her out.
HAMMER: And a strange by-product of this is something I could never imagine happening. As we mentioned, Howard K. Stern and Larry Birkhead were once bitter enemies and now they`re sort of these unlikely bed fellows in their opposition to Virgie Arthur. So Jane, do you think that`s because they`re now genuinely getting along? What`s really going on here? Are they simply united by their dislike of Virgie?
MITCHELL: Virgie Arthur is actually making Howard K. Stern look good by comparison. He`s coming off as a gentleman who was actually gracious in defeat when he lost the paternity battle. Instead of continuing to fight, he finally said, look, Larry`s the dad. I`m going to support him. I`m not going to ask for any paperwork. I`d like to be part of little Dannielynn`s life, but I`ll leave it up to Larry. So he`s now making all the right moves and so that`s making Virgie look even worse. Remember, Virgie has a very book stubborn streak. She`s the one, Pat, who stopped her daughter`s funeral in progress to file an unsuccessful 11th hour appeal.
LALAMA: I didn`t say she wasn`t a little nuts. But I will tell you this, I happen to know from really, really good sources, high authority, that Howard was able to basically mesmerize Larry during the whole process, which is what caused the problem with Debra Opri. And that he made secret deals with Larry a long time ago, saying you can live in the house in Studio City for free and I`ll make sure you`re taken care of. And so if he doesn`t have his own financial interests, I`d say you can sell somebody a piece of land in swamp land.
MITCHELL: I`m not saying he`s a saint, Pat, and I`ve heard those same rumors. All I`m saying is that it does put Virgie Arthur at a disadvantage even to Howard K. Stern, who wants to look good, remember, because there`s that`s upcoming formal inquest into Daniel`s death.
LALAMA: They`re all setting the groundwork for the big Marshall case. Trust me.
HAMMER: There`s no denying that. So Pat, let`s bust it down to where we go from here. As we now know, the Bohemian court not only denied Virgie`s last request, but they also called her attempts a waste of time. They fined her 3,000 bucks. So with the fight being over in the Bahamas, and you did mention something about grandparents` rights, are we going to see this continued waste of time starting all over again in the courts here in the U.S., or is this a done deal, and maybe she`ll see the light?
LALAMA: I think it`s very possible we`ll see this reopened out here. You can fight for grandparents` rights anywhere and why not take it here and see if another judge says, OK, Virgie, now you`re really wasting the court`s time, 6,000 dollar fine and you`re out of here. But I think she may try it.
HAMMER: And Jane, it seems like she`s shot herself in the foot, in terms of really trying to work out some kind of visitation with Larry Birkhead, who was open to the idea before this mess started.
MITCHELL: Of course. She has poisoned the very relationship that she purportedly wants to preserve. I mean, who wants to alienate the father of your granddaughter? That`s why it doesn`t make any sense unless there`s another reason, ka ching, dollar signs. And one thing I have to say, hats off to Larry Birkhead for being gracious throughout this entire mess.
HAMMER: Yes, I agree with you on that. Jane Velez Mitchell, Pat Lalama, thanks as always. Lots more Anna Nicole Smith stuff coming your way. I`ve got a revealing look at her last film.
The shocking, never-before-heard Anna Nicole stories from the people that were right there on the set with her. They`re going to join me on set here at SHOWBIZ TONIGHT at 31 past the hour.
ANDERSON: Hey A.J., I know you were off last week. But I`m sure you heard while you were away about Rosie O`Donnell`s shocking announcement that she`s leaving "The View." Any ideas on who you would like to see replace her?
HAMMER: No, you know, I`ve been thinking about that. That`s a tough seat to fill. I have no idea.
ANDERSON: It is very tough shoes to fill, and today we just might have found out who`s going to do it. That`s coming up.
HAMMER: I`d like to know. Also Brook, Miss America Lauren Nelson; she`s right here on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT. Her amazing story of how she teamed up with "America`s Most Wanted" to catch suspected sex sickos.
We`ve also got this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANE FONDA, ACTRESS: She was late a couple of times and one of the times I went into the makeup trailer and I got mad at her and told her to get her ass on the set, because people were waiting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Who did Jane Fonda totally go off on? She really ripped into one starlet for slacking on the job. I`ve got that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HAMMER: Welcome back to SHOWBIZ TONIGHT, TV`s most provocative entertainment news show. I`m A.J. Hammer in New York. Tonight we`ve got the extraordinary inside story of Miss America`s mission to catch child predators from Miss America herself. Lauren Nelson is the reigning Miss America. But online, child predators got to know her as a 14-year-old girl.
Nelson went undercover for the TV show "America`s Most Wanted." And police in Long Island New York set up an Internet predator sting operation. From chatting with predators to meeting them face-to-face, she did it all and she put four alleged predators in jail. Joining us tonight from Las Vegas is Miss America 2007, Lauren Nelson. Thanks you so much for being with us, Lauren.
LAUREN NELSON, MISS AMERICA: Thanks for having me.
HAMMER: I`ve got to tell you, a pretty gutsy move on your part. Obviously you had protection. You had people there looking out for you. But you were coming face-to-face with some pretty creepy people. How scary was that?
NELSON: It was very scary. I was within feet of them, about five feet of them. It`s always nerve-racking, because you never know what they`re going to be doing. But, like you said, it was a controlled situation, with the Suffolk County police department being there, John Walsh of "America`s Most Wanted." So ultimately I knew I was safe, but of course the butterflies were there.
HAMMER: I`ve met John Walsh before. I know he`ll protect you, if need by. I want to take a look at a clip of you in action during this whole thing, because obviously some real good was done. Let`s watch you in this sting operation on "America`s Most Wanted."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NELSON: Wait right here. I`ve got to grab the phone.
JOHN WALSH, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Stop right there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Very, very creepy. As I mentioned, you had to chat with these guys online, some really sexually explicit conversations were had. I have to imagine you were pretty disgusted at what they were saying to somebody that they thought was 14 years old.
NELSON: Completely. And the thing is that they say these disgusting things to real 12, 13, 14-year-old girls and boys every day. So at least this time it was to me, "America`s Most Wanted," and the Suffolk County Police Department. This happens all the time to our children.
HAMMER: Now, I realize obviously we`re on TV, so there`s probably a limit as to what you can repeat. But what kind of things were these guys saying and suggesting, to give our viewers some sense of that?
NELSON: It was so sexually explicit you can`t even say it on TV. And it surprised me how quickly the conversation turned to sex. Sometimes it was the first or second of instant message. Sometimes it took, you know, an hour or two of chatting. But it`s different with each predator. And the worst thing about it was getting on the phone with them, talking on the phone. It`s one thing to be on the computer. But to get on the phone with them is the hardest thing.
HAMMER: Yes, and this is something that goes on, as we know, unfortunately and quite sadly, every single day in this country.
NELSON: All the time.
HAMMER: But in this case, people might look at the headline of you doing this show, "Miss America Nabs Sex Predators," and they might go, what are you talking about? But this is something that you actually experienced firsthand when you were a teenager, didn`t you?
NELSON: That`s right. When I was 13 I was approached online with a group of girlfriends and I chatting. The instant message that he sent was ASL, which was exactly what the predators sent to me this time, which means age, sex, location. We told him that we were 13, that we were females and that we were in Oklahoma. So he knew all of that information about us, which is enough to find out where we are and find us.
Later that week, he got back into correspondence with my friend, sent inappropriate pictures of himself and that`s when we alerted our parents. We were some of the lucky ones. Nothing ever came of it. But like you said, it happens all the time. And some kids aren`t as lucky. So my job as Miss America is to promote education and awareness of the issue. And that`s exactly what`s happening because of this show.
HAMMER: Here`s one of the things that I have yet to understand any time I`ve seen any shows on this subject, because obviously this has been out there, a lot to expose these very, very sick individuals. The show that you did, "America`s Most Wanted," John Walsh is very active with this.
NELSON: Right.
HAMMER: "Dateline: To Catch a Predator" does it all the time.
NELSON: Yes.
HAMMER: It just surprises me every time I see these guys show up at the door, particularly the ones who say, oh, I thought this might be you. They still go out there and they still do it, knowing that there`s this net that is constantly being cast out there. Do you get any sense as to why they continue to do this?
NELSON: It`s a compulsion. And they`re smart enough -- even in the chats that I was doing, they`re smart enough to say, you`re not the cops, are you? But yet they still come to the house. They still show up. They`re not thinking clearly. It`s that compulsion that gets them there. Nothing else matters except the fact that they want that.
HAMMER: Well, our hats of to you Miss America for doing the good work that you did on this front. Miss America Lauren Nelson, I appreciate you joining us tonight.
NELSON: Thank you very much.
ANDERSON: So I`ve got a lot of stunning Lindsay Lohan stuff to tell you about tonight. Jane Fonda startling admission of how she whipped Lindsay into shape on the set of their new movie. And Lindsay reveals her inner most fears about not being famous.
OK, so first, Lohan tells "Nylon Magazine," "I get embarrassed about the paparazzi if I`m in a chic restaurant or when I was in the AA meetings. I feel really disrespectful because those people are doing that for themselves and it`s no one else`s business. Other times I obviously like it. I wouldn`t ever want them to not take my picture. I`d be like, do people not care for me?."
Well, Jane Fonda definitely doesn`t care how famous Lindsay is or isn`t, because she really let her have it when they were shooting their new movie "Georgia Rules." Now you might remember the scandal when the head of the production company sent Lindsay a nasty later. He was tired of her being late, calling in sick and threatened to stick her with a big bill if he didn`t get her act together. Well Fonda tried to straighten Lindsay out herself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FONDA: For the most part, when I was actually working with her on the set, everything was fine. She was late a couple of times, and one of those times, I went into the makeup trailer and I got mad at her and told her to get her ass on the set because people were waiting. Apparently when I left she turned to her makeup guy and said Barbarella just yelled at me. But basically when I was there, things were fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: By the way, Jane says that letter sent to Lindsay, A.J., she says totally appropriate.
HAMMER: I agree. So Brooke, check this out, Lindsay`s hard partying, sometimes pantiless pal Britney Spears had a little run-in with the cops.
ANDERSON: What now, A.J.?
HAMMER: Well, it is a really surprising story. Stick around. That is coming up in just a bit.
ANDERSON: And all sorts of rumors that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are about to split. It`s all over the tabloids. But somebody who knows them well says she knows the real story. Also that in a bit.
And this --
HAMMER: Hey, look out Oscars, Anna Nicole Smith really had a personal connection to her last movie. The shocking never-before-heard Anna Nicole stories coming from the people that were right there on the set, because they`re joining me right here on our set, coming up on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Some big news on "The View" today. And nope, it doesn`t have a thing to do with Rosie O`Donnell. Well, kind of.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSIE O`DONNELL, "THE VIEW": I was just wondering if there`s anything new, Elizabeth?
ELIZABETH HASSELBECK, "THE VIEW": Just a couple of things.
O`DONNELL: Like anything in specific?
HASSELBECK: Like I`m totally three months pregnant. You know, I figured that we`re going to be lonely without you, so Tim and I thought we should get busy and maybe make a little co-host.
O`DONNELL: Exactly.
BARBARA WALTERS, "THE VIEW": All I can say is when you said you had had an announcement, my heart tank sank. I can`t take another.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Barbara`s also happy the baby is due in November for sweeps. And, you know, some of our eagle eyed SHOWBIZ TONIGHT staffers have been pointing out for a while that what Elizabeth was wearing over the last few weeks kind of gave it away. So they knew ahead of times, it seems. It is the second child for Elizabeth and her husband Tim. She has a two-year-old daughter with NFL quarterback Tim Hasselbeck.
And, of course, Barbara was referring to Rosie`s bombshell announcement last week that she`s leaving "The View."
HAMMER: Congratulations to Elizabeth. Britney Spears with a run-in with the police. I`ve got the surprising details of what happened. That`s coming up in a bit. We`ve also go this.
ANDERSON: OK, so Anna Nicole Smith`s last movie is called "Illegal Aliens." Sounds kind of like a Lou Dobbs segment, right? But Anna really had a personal connection to the film. Next, the never-before-heard Anna Nicole stories from the people that were right there on the set with her.
HAMMER: And I don`t think we`ll have Dobbs comment. All sorts of rumors now too that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes are about to split. It`s all over the tabloids. But someone that knows them well says she knows the real story. That is coming up.
(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.
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