There’s a saying, “What other people think of you is none of your business”. Virgie Arthur, mother of Anna Nicole Smith, is pursuing another court battle with Howard K. Stern and his sister. At one time, this lawsuit included Larry Birkhead, the father of Anna Nicole’s daughter. In short, she’s suing for defamation of character, citing stories reported by TMZ.com that claimed she and her step-brother had a child together. Virgie and her step-brother, along with several other family members and lawyers, have denied the story is true.

All of this started in September of 2006 with the birth of Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter and the death of her son a day later. From that point, this family and all of its peripheral players became front page

Virgie Arthur

news. It became even more bizarre when Anna Nicole died the following February. Everything from a marriage that didn’t exist, then a man who insisted he was the father of her baby, only to be excluded with a DNA test and Anna Nicole’s body being held in a morgue for weeks while the courts sorted out who would be allowed to decide her ultimate resting place - this all happened in the public eye. There were accusations being used as missiles between the parties and videos of a clearly drugged woman who was eight months pregnant surfaced. All of this, and the one story that finds its place in a courtroom is an accusation of improper conduct between step-siblings that really had nothing to do with all of the other drama.

Howard K Stern

December 10^th is the next date circled in red. Houston will be the setting as the judge is expected to have a decision regarding the release of several emails Camp Virgie insists will prove how the stories began. There are millions of dollars at stake. The only two players who will most likely not be a part of this latest saga are Larry Birkhead and his daughter. It’s just as well. This child already has the cards stacked against her. Her legacy includes some of the more nefarious aspects of human nature and no matter what she does in her life, this will be carried with her every single day. Not only that, but every person who fought for her in the days after her mother died had ulterior motives other than her well-being, with the one possible exception being her father. Jury’s still out on him. He did drop out of the spotlight after he was proven to be the father and chose to take her home to the small town he grew up in.

It’s ironic the final chapter of this story will be written in Texas. This seemingly was the only state that didn’t have a dog in the hunt when issues regarding autopsies, custody of the baby and where Anna Nicole would be buried were being decided. Florida, California, Kentucky as well as the Bahamas were some of the locations that potentially could’ve hosted any of the court battles. But with this

Anna Nicole Smith

latest “he said/she said” it does feel as though it’s coming full circle, since this is where Anna Nicole was raised. Hopefully, these people will finally get to a point where they feel they’ve wasted enough time on accusations that won’t matter ten years from now.