News reports describe the Larry Birkhead / Howard K. Stern relationship as
very friendly and supportive. According
to the New York Post, Stern patted Birkhead on the back just after judges in
a Bahamian court ruled on April 27 that Birkhead was free to leave the Bahamas
with 7-month-old Dannielynn. The judges took less than one hour to rule on and
to deny Virgie Arthur’s unusual appeal that challenged a judge's ruling this
week that Birkhead could leave remove Dannielynn from the island nation. According to reports, the members of the three-judge panel opined that the
custody battle between Birkhead and Anna Nicole Smith's mother would likely be
settled in a U.S. court and saw no reason to keep the Los Angeles photographer
from leaving with his daughter. There is still another hearing in the Bahamas on
June 8—undoubtedly to resolve the issue of jurisdiction over the custody battle
itself. My guess is that the Bahamian court will rule that the custody battle
should occur in California on the grounds that it is a “more convenient forum.”
Given the Bahamian court’s glacial treatment of Virgie Arthur’s earlier legal
maneuvers, one might imagine that she’d turn to another court for relief. It’s
pretty obvious that she’ll get nowhere in the Bahamas. The judges ruled that Virgie’s appeal was without merit because she had cited
no reasonable proof to support her argument that Birkhead would not return to
the Bahamas for the June 8 hearing. The court then ordered her to pay $3,000 in
attorney fees for the frivolous appeal. Perhaps that is just the first of some
coming “reality checks” for Virgie. We’ll see just how far she will go in her
attempts to wrest custody from Birkhead or to get an order for joint custody of
the infant. My review of California law indicates that she lacks standing there
to seek custody of Dannielynn.
Both Birkhead and Stern were interviewed on the steps of the Bahamian
courthouse by Access Hollywood. Birkhead, once again, couldn’t stop gloating. He
discussed the court’s ruling that Virgie had to pay $3,000 “for the nonsense
that she was responsible for today.” He also talked about getting a new birth
certificate for his daughter and a passport. In response to a question from
reporters, he said that he possessed a passport photo and that the baby “was
very well lit.” This latter is undoubtedly referring not to a passport photo
session, but to a professional photo session during which photographs were taken
by OK/Reuters that showed up on the Internet on April 27 showing nothing but
skin—both for Dannielynn and for Birkhead. Is this just the beginning of Hollywood glitz, glamour, and exploitation of
this tiny girl? Birkhead has also provided OK Magazine with an interview. He and
Dannielynn are on the cover of the most recent issue. OK/Reuters has published a
photo on the Internet showing Birkhead posed lying next to/above the infant.
Clothing is seen on neither Birkhead nor the infant. My visceral reaction to
this photo was that it resembled a mild form of kiddie porn. I was disgusted by
it. At best, it seems just the type of photo that is taken for exploitative
coverage, not for news coverage. The New York Post reported on April 28 that NBC was getting “scoop after
scoop in the Anna Nicole Smith soap opera” because NBC Universal had signed a
secret $1 million deal with Birkhead after Anna Nicole’s funeral. According to
the Post, its source discovered the exclusive contract with the parent company
and this is the reason that Birkhead has given exclusive coverage that’s been
aired on the network's "Today" and "Access Hollywood" programs and on its Bravo
channel. The Post reported that a rep for Bravo had confirmed the existence of
Birkhead’s deal with the network—made through its entertainment division.
Included in the network’s scoop was, of course, a copy of Dannielynn’s
new birth certificate naming her Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead—posted on
the Access Hollywood website, clearly watermarked with their brand. A streaming video report posted on Access Hollywood on
April 28 shows their interview with Birkhead on the courthouse steps after
the hearing yesterday. Birkhead gloated about his victory and about the judge’s
sanctions against Virgie. His demeanor was not dissimilar from his triumphant
announcement on courthouse steps earlier when he was named as Dannielynn’s
father. Stern said in his interview that “Virgie and her lawyers have made a lot
of outrageous statements about me supposedly because they were concerned with
Dannielynn’s safety and the appeal was actually in effect asking to have
Dannielynn maintained and stay in the Bahamas with me.” Implied in his statement
is a caution to Virgie and her lawyers about possible libel or slander charges
in the future. According
to the New York Post, “Birkhead and little Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead
are flying from the Bahamas to Los Angeles today” with Howard K. Stern on a
private plane provided by Bravo. The Post opines that the network will air
another big interview upon their return to the US. Interestingly, when asked by
a reporter what his travel plans were for his return to the US with Dannielynn,
Birkhead stated on camera that he didn’t know—that he had no plans—and
that he was “just hoping to get out of here as soon as possible.” Not exactly a
lie, but certainly not exactly the truth. Was he ashamed to admit that he’d
signed a $1 million deal with Bravo and that they had a plane standing by for
him? Well, actually, his personality as observed in these Internet-published
videos doesn’t reveal to me a capacity for shame or embarrassment. What’s it going to be—a normal childhood for this little girl or continued
exploitation for her “newsworthiness?” To visit Jeanne Hannah's website
for more information, click here:
Technorati tags: Dannielynn, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead, Larry Birkhead, Howard K. Stern, Virgie Arthur, Anna Nicole Smith
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