Howard K. Stern

Anna Nicole's Lover, Howard K. Stern, Tells Us: I'm Broke!

Mandi Illuzzi — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 13:55:32 -0500

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Anna Nicole Smith's grieving ex tells Us that he's buried in lawsuits and personal debt

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It has been a tough year for lawyer and former Anna Nicole Smith lover Howard K. Stern. And in an interview in the new issue of Us Weekly, Stern claims that it's all taking a financial toll on him.

In fact, since the passing of his partner (and only client) in February, the attorney says he is having trouble making ends meet. “I am in debt and basically broke,” Stern, 38, tells Us. “There’s this impression out there that I am somehow making money off of Anna’s death. It couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Stern has filed a $60 million libel suit against author Rita Cosby for alleging in a book that he engaged in homosexual acts with the father of Anna's baby Dannielynne, Larry Birkhead. But due to “juggling” more than a dozen other lawsuits, Stern says he owes his parents “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

For more on Stern's financial woes - and what he has to say about Smith's disturbing "clown" video - pick up the new issue of Us Weekly on newsstands Friday.

Tell Us: Do you feel sorry for Howard K. Stern?

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January 6, 2007

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Anna Nicole's Producer Found, Explains Disturbing Clown Tape

Allison Corneau — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 19:06:13 -0400

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Us uncovers the real story behind Smith's incoherent new video.

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Usmagazine.com has exclusively learned the identity of “Mark,” the mystery man Howard K. Stern repeatedly refers to in the shocking new Anna Nicole Smith video.

Mark Schey, the president and CEO of creative agency 22Digital, which created the “TRIMSPA, Baby!” slogan, tells Us that through his “good, professional relationship” with Smith he often helped her post fan videos on her personal website “as a courtesy kind of thing.” He claims he was not paid, however, and that he wasn't present at the Bahamas video shoot.

“It could have been something [Stern] intended to put on [her website]. He would give me instructions, ‘edit this, don’t do this,’” Schey tells Us, adding, “I’ve never seen that video, and had nothing to do with the filming of it. I never even got this tape.”

Schey is “not sure” who was the man behind the camera, but says it “could” have been Stern.

“I help put videos online – I had nothing to do with the production of them, and was not there when she filmed any of them,” Schey explains.

Robin Bonnema, a spokeswoman for TRIMSPA, tells Us: “Mark Schey is not an employee of TRIMSPA. He owns his own company and TRIMSPA has contracted Mark on occasion for TRIMSPA-related events. The video is not a TRIMSPA event, nor is it related to TRIMSPA in any way.”

The disturbing footage of an apparently drugged-up, eight-months-pregnant Smith — which was seen on Geraldo Rivera ’s show Geraldo at Large this week — shows an incoherent Smith in clown makeup, pushing a baby doll in a stroller at her then-home in the Bahamas. Smith acts as if she thinks the doll is alive and does not realize she is pregnant; she appears to thinks she is just bloated from gas, the tape shows.

Her partner Howard K. Stern can be overheard asking Smith if she is on a "mushroom trip" and giving direction to a colleague he calls "Mark."

At one point, Stern says, "This footage is worth money," and instructs Smith to cover her right breast, which had popped out of her caftan. He then says, "You can’t show that, Mark."

On the tape, Stern and Smith are joined by the nine-year-old daughter of Smith’s former friend, Ford Shelley — whose father-in-law, G. Ben Thompson, owns the home where Smith was staying at the time — who was at the house for a playdate when the tape was shot. The child is overheard urging Stern to "Cut the tape off and help..." Later she pleads, "I think we need the hospital... Howard, seriously, please help!"

Stern has claimed the tape, a small portion of which was broadcast earlier this year on Fox News Channel, was stolen.

But last night on Geraldo, Shelley — who admitted he took the tape — shot back: "It’s funny to me that he said I stole something ... I had a key to the house."

Shelley added that his daughter was "emotionally not good" after the incident.

So why release it? "I want the truth to come out," he told Rivera.

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Mark Schey (right, with glasses,) and Alex Goen (front, left) at Anna Nicole Smith’s funeral.

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Anna Nicole Smith’s Nannies Deny Interviewing with Rita Cosby

Alissa R — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 10:56:18 -0400

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A lawyer for two nannies who worked for Anna Nicole Smith say that Rita Cosby falsely used them as a source in her book for a claim that Howard K. Stern had a videotaped sexual encounter with Larry Birkhead.

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A lawyer for two nannies who worked for Anna Nicole Smith say that Rita Cosby falsely used them as a source in her book for a claim that Howard K. Stern had a videotaped sexual encounter with Larry Birkhead.

Quethlie Alexis and Nadine Alexie, who worked as nannies for Smith in the Bahamas, never spoke to the author of the book, former MSNBC host Rita Cosby, attorney Elizabeth Thompson said. Furthermore, they never spoke about a sexual encounter between Smith’s former lover, Stern, and Birkhead, the father of her child.

"They don't know one way or another if it happened," Thompson told the Associated Press.

Cosby's book, Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death, states that the nannies, accompanied by a lawyer, told a private investigator that Smith liked to sit in bed and watch a videotape of Birkhead and Stern having a sexual encounter.

Cosby admits that she never spoke to the nannies but stands by her book, which also attributes the claim of a sexual encounter to a friend of Smith's.

"We have a number of sources," she said. "We have it attributed directly to a private investigator who specifically said that."

Stern has called the claim "ridiculous," and last week filed a $60 million libel lawsuit against Cosby and her publisher.. An attorney for Birkhead has said he also plans to file a lawsuit.

Smith died of an accidental drug overdose in Florida in February at age 39.

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Anna Nicole Smith at the Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson in Culver City, CA. on August 7, 2005.

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Pics: Rita Cosby’s Reaction to Being Served With Lawsuit at Book Party

Noelle Hancock — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 12:08:21 -0400

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The author couldn't contain her shock while walking into a Manhattan book signing.

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Rita Cosby, TV journalist and author of Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death, was walking into a Manhattan book signing Wednesday night when she was officially served the documents in Howard K. Stern's libel case against her. (See video on The Insider.)

"It's all PR and spin,” Cosby, 42, told Usmagazine.com after being served while Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, looked on. “So I'm not surprised that they used this opportunity. This is par for the course for these characters."

Stern, former boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith, filed the $60 million libel suit against Cosby and her publisher for alleging in Blonde Ambition that Stern, 38, and Larry Birkhead engaged in homosexual acts. The book also alleges that Stern and Birkhead struck a deal whereby Birkhead would get custody of Dannielynn in exchange for Stern being named executor of Smith's estate.

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Courtesy of "The Insider"

Rita Cosby Served With Lawsuit

Megan Lynn — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 18:55:26 -0400

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The author is handed legal papers at her NY book signing.

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Just minutes after being served, Cosby, 42, told Usmagazine.com, "What crossed my mind...they knew I was walking into a big book party. It just shows you that with these guys it's all just smoke and mirrors. It's all PR and spin. And that's what I write about in my book. So I'm not surprised that they used this opportunity. This is par for the course for these characters."

Stern, former Anna Nicole Smith lawyer and lover, filed the $60 million libel suit against Rita Cosby and her publisher on Tuesday. In Blonde Ambition, Cosby alleges that Stern, 38, and Larry Birkhead, Smith's former lover and the father of her daughter, Dannielynn, engaged in homosexual acts. The books also alleges that Stern and Birkhead struck a deal whereby Birkhead would get custody of Dannielynn in exchange for Stern being named executor of Smith's estate.

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Rita Cosby holding a subpoena which she was served in NY. October 2007.

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Howard K. Stern Sues Author Rita Cosby For Libel

Megan Lynn — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 18:40:07 -0400

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Stern claims allegations in Cosby's Anna Nicole Smith book are false.

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Usmagazine.com confirms that former Anna Nicole Smith lawyer Howard K. Stern has sued journalist Rita Cosby for libel. Stern's lawyer Lin Wood tells Us, "The libel lawsuit was filed this afternoon in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Rita Cosby and her publisher, Hachette Book Group USA."

The lawsuit, which was first reported by CelebTV.com, asks for $60 million dollars in compensatory and punitive damages.

Former MSNBC anchor Cosby is the author of Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death. In the book, she writes that Stern, 38, and Larry Birkhead, Smith's former lover and the father of her daughter, Dannielynn, engaged in homosexual acts, which were caught on tape. Further, the book alleges that Stern and Birkhead struck a deal -- Birkhead would get custody of Dannielynn in exchange for Stern being named executor of Smith's estate.

Before the book's release, Birkhead, 34, told Us of Cosby's claims, "If this book is not sitting next to Harry Potter on the fiction shelf, then Rita Cosby is going to be wrapped in one of the most expensive lawsuits ever."

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Howard K. Stern in the Bahamas on March 30, 2007.

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Howard K. Stern Denies Having Affair with Larry Birkhead

Noelle Hancock — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 18:47:17 -0400

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Howard K. Stern, the former lover and lawyer to Anna Nicole Smith, is denying the existence of a video tape featuring a sexual encounter between himself and Larry Birkhead.

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Howard K. Stern, the former lover and lawyer to Anna Nicole Smith, is denying the existence of a video tape featuring a sexual encounter between himself and Larry Birkhead. Rumors of the tape surfaced in a book by MSNBC journalist Rita Cosby, Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith’s Death. Cosby writes that Smith had a tape of the two men having sex and watched it “over and over again” while lounging in bed.

Stern, 38, lashed out at Cosby while attending the first birthday party of Birkhead and Smith’s daughter, Dannielynn, on September 8 in Louisville, Kentucky.

"Most of these witnesses, or, you can't even call them witnesses, but sources to Rita Cosby's book, they were doing media after media interview after Anna passed away and they took every shot at me that their imaginations could possibly dream up,” he tells Entertainment Tonight in an interview scheduled to air Thursday.

“And all of a sudden, the same people are coming back and they're saying, 'oh by the way, I forgot… Howard and Larry are gay and there's a video of them together.' It's ridiculous. I mean it's absolutely absurd."

Stern continued: "That woman Rita Cosby is either the dumbest person on earth or she knows that she's printing false information. And I don't think she's the dumbest person on earth."

He also raised the concern that such false allegations will be harmful to Dannielynn when she is old enough to understand them. "Dannielynn is gonna read this garbage and it's almost like she's going have to get counseling from the age of three," Stern told ET.

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March 2007

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Larry Birkhead: Why Howard and I Attended Gay Pride Parade

Noelle Hancock — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 15:30:15 -0400

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In an interview with Us on September 3, Larry Birkhead railed against a new 244-page book by former MSNBC journalist Rita Cosby titled Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story behind Anna Nicole Smith’s Death, in which she claims that Birkhead and Howard K. Stern were lovers.

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In an interview with Us on September 3, Larry Birkhead railed against a new book by Rita Cosby titled Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith’s Death, in which she claims that Birkhead and Howard K Stern were lovers.

“Zero truth to it," Birkhead tels Us. "I don’t know how Cosby can print lies like that without once attempting to contact me. That’s journalism 101.”

(Cosby, a former MSNBC journalist, did not respond to requests for comment.)

So why did Stern and Birkhead attend L.A.’s Gay Pride parade in June 2005, where Smith was grand marshal?

“I was a photographer,” Birkhead explains to Us. “My camera is around my neck in every picture."

Among the other allegations? That Birkhead, 34, and Stern, 38, struck a deal giving Birkhead custody of Dannielynn (who turns 1 on September 7) in exchange for Stern being named executor of Smith’s estate, worth a potential $472 million; and that Smith considered Birkhead a “sperm donor,” whom she never intended to keep around.

“It’s bogus,” says Birkhead.

For more details on Cosby’s shocking new book and Larry and Howard’s reaction to the bombshells, pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands this week.

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Anna Nicole Smith, Howard K Stern and Larry Birkhead at "The Abbey" in West Hollywood, CA on June 12 2005.

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The Source Behind Explosive Birkhead Accusations

Noelle Hancock — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 09:59:52 -0400

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Some of the most scandalous accusations in Rita Cosby’s new book, Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith’s Death, come from former Smith pal Jackie Hatten.

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Some of the most scandalous accusations in Rita Cosby’s new book, Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith’s Death, come from former Smith pal Jackie Hatten.

One of the more salacious stories? Hatten’s claim that she once walked in on Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern half-naked and engaged in oral sex at a party at a friend’s house.

Cosby writes, “‘Howard’s head was down into Larry’s [private area],’ Jackie told me. ‘Their bodies were intermingled. It was obvious what was happening.’ Anna suddenly walked up behind her and laughed out loud when she saw what the two men were doing.”

She calls herself a friend, but as Smith’s former attorney Ron Rale tells Us, “Anna Nicole expressed to me her dislike for Jackie Hatten.”

According to single beach-volleyball player, Hatten, 34, the blondes met at a day spa in the early 1990s and Smith became “like a sister to me.”

But she has no love for Stern: Her brother Mark, an artist, briefly dated Smith in 2000, and she blames him for their split.

In 2003, Mark was convicted of making criminal threats against Smith and sentenced to almost seven years in jail – which Jackie also blames on Stern, alleging he “perjured himself” at the trial.

For more on Hatten’s outrageous accusations, check out the new issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands this week.

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Jackie Hatten at the memorial service for Anna Nicole Smith's son Daniel in Mexia, Texas on October 7, 2006.

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Larry Birkhead: NBC's Million Dollar Baby?

Noelle Hancock — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 13:45:38 -0400

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NBC paid Larry Birkhead a cool $1 million dollars for all the scoops he’s been giving the network during the Dannielynn custody saga, Page Six reports.

An insider tells the New York Post gossip column that the network's parent company, NBC Universal, made a deal with Dannielynn’s biological father shortly after Anna Nicole Smith's funeral, and that's why the photographer has been giving exclusives to the network's Today show and Access Hollywood programs and its Bravo channel.

A rep for Bravo confirmed to Page Six: "NBC Universal has an exclusive contract with Larry Birkhead and we don't discuss the terms of our deals."

Last month, Birkhead revealed a tattoo he has of the late blond bombshell on Access Hollywood. "I have a tattoo on my back so I carry that around," he gushed to the show. "It's a picture of Anna so wherever I go, she goes."

Likewise, when Birkhead, 34, and his lawyer, Debra Opri, parted ways, "Access Hollywood" was the first to report it.

After the Bahamian court ruled that Birkhead was the biological father of Smith’s baby, he immediately went on the Today show to describe his joy, gushing, "Yesterday was just a great day for me and Dannielynn."

The source tells Page Six that the Birkhead deal is almost up, but that one final scoop is in the works, and that Birkhead and Dannielynn are flying from the Bahamas to Los Angeles today, courtesy of the network.

"They'll be on board a Bravo-funded plane along with Howard K. Stern and the network is planning some kind of big interview," the insider says.

Talk to Us: Was it wrong of Larry to take the money in exchange for exclusives about Dannielynn?

Howard K. Stern

Anna Nicole's Lover, Howard K. Stern, Tells Us: I'm Broke!

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