Blonde Ambition

by Rita Cosby

  She says both men had their shirts off and Howard was down on his knees. Larry was sitting in a big oversized loveseat chair and both men had their pants down around their ankles. "Howard's head was down into Larry's crotch," 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 also saw what the two men were doing.

  "The boys didn't stop," Jackie said. "They were engrossed and making their own sounds." Jackie said she and Anna watched the scene from about fifteen feet away. "Definitely close enough to see what was happening."

  Jackie was shocked. Anna wasn't. She grabbed her friend's arm. "Come here, come here, come here," Anna said. "Howard . . . you know he's gay, I told you. And if Larry wants to do it, I can't complain because I do, what I do." Anna's sexual escapades with women were openly discussed between she and her friends. "I guess anything goes," Anna had laughed.

  Several former boyfriends told me that Anna preferred women to men. "She was like Mae West with men," one told me. "She loved the attention of men constantly, but privately loved women." He recounted to me that one night when she was in a hot tub at his house during a big party, eight women between the ages of twenty and thirty years old who didn't know Anna before that night, joined her in the water. "They all got naked and began touching her and each other," he said. "The night became very spontaneous and it went from the Jacuzzi to a private suite and it went on all night long." It was one time of many. "She constantly had an interest in women."

  The following day after the Howard and Larry man-onman shenanigans, Jackie and Anna talked about what they had seen in the bedroom at their friend's house. "Oh, you were freaked out about last night," Anna giggled.

  "I wasn't expecting to see that!" Jackie said. Anna laughed and laughed. She thought it was the funniest thing ever that the night Jackie was supposed to meet Anna's boyfriend, Larry Birkhead, he was being intimate with her lawyer, Howard K. Stern. They never discussed it again. And Jackie never met Larry face to face.

  Jackie Hatten did speak to Larry Birkhead on the phone shortly after Daniel died. She told Larry, "I am worried about Anna, that she'll be next."

  Without knowing what Jackie Hatten had seen, Anna's nannies, Quethlie Alexis and Nadine Alexie, accompanied by their attorney, told private investigators some details about Howard and Anna's home life. Howard, they said, was always on his computer and Anna often stayed in bed and watched movies. "Is there one video she loved watching?" an investigator asked.

  "Yes," one of the nannies surprisingly said, "the one with Larry Birkhead and Howard . . . doing that thing."

  "You mean like two gay guys?" the investigator asked. "Having sex?"

  "Just like that," she nodded. The investigators were taken aback and told me that the nannies were clearly embarrassed about it, since they were quite religious.

  "She'd lie in her bed and watch it," Nadine affirmed.

  According to the nannies, she watched it over and over again.

  March 2007

  Under the direction of the Bahamas Court, Debra Opri was advised that Nassau Social Services was coordinating a social services evaluation concerning Larry Birkhead. Her Bahamian counterpart advised her to "get Larry ready" because a social services officer would be visiting Larry's house and would be looking at the kind of home and environment he would provide for his daughter.

  When Opri told Larry that he needed to "child proof" his home, he asked her, "What do I do?" She asked whether he had done anything about getting a nursery ready. "Well," he replied, "Anna and I went shopping for a really nice nursery and we painted the baby's room pink."

  Opri felt Larry was not up to the task and enlisted the help of a consultant, a former child services worker who knew the "checklist" for a social services inspection. On March 8, 2007, she met with Larry at his third floor, one bedroom apartment in Burbank, California. What she saw was filth—not acceptable to an adult, let alone a child—and said that the home had to be overhauled.

  This is when Debra Opri learned about Byron—the "close friend" and "housemate" of Larry Birkhead's who had been living there with him for a while, rent free. Larry told her that Byron would help get the one-bedroom place ready.

  But California social services told Larry that everyone who was going to be near Dannielynn, should she be awarded to him, would have to be fingerprinted and have a background check run. Larry suddenly panicked and said he did not, under any circumstances, want anyone to know about Byron.

  Debra Opri became concerned with the "Byron issue." She asked whether Byron was going to be there when Dannielynn came, and Larry told her that he "would ask him to leave, but not now." The consultant repeated her concern about anyone with a questionable background and Opri told Larry that she was "not going to be part of any 'deception' with social services."

  Larry Birkhead did not help in the cleaning of his house for social services. Instead, he just wanted to shop for and set up the nursery, and spend his time buying more and more baby clothes. When Opri, along with the social services consultant and an assistant, accompanied Larry to Babies 'R Us to get items for the nursery, they filled five shopping carts. At the register, Larry did not have the funds to pay for the purchases, which totaled $3,600. Once again, he turned to his attorney to foot the bill, saying he would pay her back. As of her June 7,

  2007 filing, he had not.

  Larry also did not help in childproofing the apartment with special hinges, locks, electrical covers, etc. That job was left to Mark Speer and his wife. The rugs were professionally cleaned, new sheets and towels purchased, and Larry's refrigerator and cupboards, which were full of spoiled and rotting food, were emptied and groceries purchased, again by Opri. She also, at his request, helped him find Dannielynn's new nanny, Roxie.

  On the fourth day of house preparation, Debra Opri dropped by the apartment with a few final items. "You're getting too comfortable coming to our home all the time," Byron snapped at her. Larry refused to discuss Byron with her ever again after that weekend. But months later, within twenty-four hours of Opri's legal filing in which she mentioned Byron, Byron was suddenly asked by Larry to immediately get out, within the hour.

  April 10, 2007

  "I told you so," blond-haired, blue-eyed Larry Birkhead announced to the world after emerging triumphantly from the Bahamian courthouse on April 10 with a big grin on his face. DNA expert Dr. Michael Baird had just confirmed to the court, "Essentially, he's the biological father," saying he was 99.99999 percent sure of it.

  "I think Anna Nicole would have been proud that I fought it," Larry told the gathered press, who had waited outside the courthouse for the results. "Thank you for your support. Thank you for the people who got me this far. . . . Thank you very much. My baby's gonna be coming home pretty soon." Having recently parted ways with his U.S. attorney, he offered no thanks whatsoever to Debra Opri.

  Howard K. Stern issued a statement following the dramatic DNA announcement, a statement that was a complete turnaround from all of his prior public statements and legal maneuvers which had dragged this case on for months. Now appearing to be Larry Birkhead's biggest supporter, he said he was "going to do whatever [he] can to make sure that he [Larry] gets sole custody."

  Stunned and outraged, Virgie Arthur wanted to know why Howard suddenly dropped all legal blockades since at one point Howard told Larry he could drag this battle on in the courts for years. Howard threatened that the baby might be five years old before Larry would ever get her.

  "What's up?" Virgie asked, cornering Larry Birkhead angrily in the courthouse hall. "What deal are you working?"

  "I'm not doing anything," he said. "I just want to take my baby home."

  "So, why is he suddenly helping you?" Virgie asked.

  "He's just being nice." Larry said. Virgie said Birkhead was noticeably nervous, and was not able to look her in the eye.

  Virgie told me later, "I knew he had cut a deal."

  Alex Denk, Anna
's former trainer, bodyguard and lover, told me that shortly after Anna died he had an unusual conversation with Howard in which Howard asked him, "Remember Larry Birkhead had that relationship with the black male reporter before Anna?" Denk says he did remember that. In fact, before Anna got pregnant by Larry, she told Denk that Anna was attracted to Larry because "he has blonde hair, he's light-eyed," and, perhaps equally important, "Larry was gay and had dated a man before her." Denk, who told me he thought Howard had always been good to Anna, was shocked when he watched the Florida court proceedings. "I kept wondering why Howard didn't bring it [Larry being gay] up publicly in court, and I thought to myself, you sneaky bastard."

  Denk was definitive that he thinks "Anna wanted to have a kid, but no attachment to a man. Larry was basically a sperm donor. He was not her boyfriend. She just wanted to have a baby with him and get rid of him." He says that now when he sees Larry Birkhead with the baby, "I feel like throwing up. That's not what she wanted. She did not want him to have the baby. It's very sad. It's opposite of what she wanted. Larry is an opportunist. . . . I was there when I heard Larry threaten her over the speakerphone, saying he'll go to the police. He wanted to get famous off of her. She was always worried about how any negative publicity would affect the Marshall case. Anna told me, 'He wants me to call the police on him, so he can get the headlines.'" Denk also said that Anna told him "that if anything ever happens to me, make sure he doesn't get the kid."

  The night the DNA results were announced, Larry went to Horizons, now Howard K. Stern's Bahamian home, and took Howard up on his offer to "spend as much time with [Dannielynn] as he wants to right now." According to Virgie's team, Larry moved into the house with Howard for a month "to help in the transition." Larry gave the court as his address of record should they need to contact him in the next few weeks . . . Eastern Road. The Horizons house.

  Meanwhile, Virgie Arthur had already filed paperwork asking to also be named as the child's guardian. "All I have ever cared about is the safety and well-being of my granddaughter," Virgie told me at the time. Despite her anger behind the scenes, she tried to stay optimistic publicly. "I look forward to working with Larry to help raise and do what's best for Dannielynn."

  The morning after the DNA results were announced, in his Today Show exclusive interview, Larry Birkhead said, "We might go from one fight to another, but I'm hoping that's not the case because, you know, there's only one dad, and 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."

  He, however, said the idea of sharing custody "would imply that I'm unfit as a parent, which I'm not. . . . I'm looking forward to giving Dannielynn everything that she needs and all the love and support." Then, he talked about the Burbank "townhouse," the one that Debra Opri had helped him fix up. "She's got lots of toys and a nursery ready for her and she's got everything she's going to need . . . all I have to do is just give her the love and that's just what I'm ready and prepared to do."

  May 1, 2007

  Dannielynn Birkhead officially took off from Bahamian soil— where both her mother and brother were laid to rest—at 9:52 a.m. on May Day 2007. When the private jet carrying her, her father, and a TV crew from Access Hollywood touched down in Kentucky, her newly custodial father's home state, there was a swarm of media to welcome them. After shielding his baby from snapping paparazzi with his jacket, Larry Birkhead tucked his baby inside a waiting SUV and then went to greet the press. Larry Birkhead, former paparazzi and newly affirmed daddy, walked up to the airport's chain link fence to take questions from the hoard of waiting media with their cameras rolling and microphones hot.

  Larry was momentarily overcome with emotion when he tried to describe the feeling of bringing his daughter home. He said, "It just feels good to be home," adding that he's ready to "relax and horse around"—an oddly appropriate turn of phrase considering it was the weekend of the Kentucky Derby, the event where he had originally met Dannielynn's mother, Anna Nicole Smith.

  Asked where they were going to live, he said he was taking it "one day at a time." That this was just "one pit stop." Noticeably gaunt, Larry remarked he'd lost a lot of weight during the ordeal and said he was looking forward to eating "some home cooking." En route to his parents' Louisville home in the SUV, Roxie, the baby's new nanny, sang "Jesus Loves the Little Children." And Dannielynn smiled.

  The following week, Larry Birkhead and Dannielynn made a splashy exclusive cover appearance in OK! Magazine. "Larry Birkhead once had a role on the TV soap opera Passions," the story began. "The last year of his life has had so much drama and intrigue that if a soap scriptwriter ever put it down on paper, the plot would likely be dismissed as too outlandish." For the privilege of telling the story of this soap opera and photographing "America's baby," OK! Magazine reportedly paid Larry Birkhead more than $1.5 million.

  June 1, 2007

  In his lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against Debra Opri, Larry Birkhead claims fraud, legal malpractice, and breach of fiduciary duty, among other things. Larry claims that Opri falsely represented herself as a specialist in California family law.

  Larry further alleged that Debra Opri spoke with others about business matters despite his requests otherwise and that she had started a "Save Dannielynn Fund" without his endorsement. Debra Opri, in her response, said that she was shocked to learn of the way he has treated not only her, but the many fans and supporters of his throughout this ordeal. She says that during the time of his litigation and mounting bills, Birkhead suggested to her to set up a legal fund to raise money. "But not too highly publicized so he wouldn't be obvious."

  Her staff was instructed to get the paperwork ready and the publicity was started. The "Dannielynn Legal Fund" raised approximately $732 in donations that were sent in by the public in checks ranging mostly from one to twenty dollars. Opri's response claims that Larry would laugh at the small amounts, stating, "Oh, lookie here . . . a whole dollar." Gifts were also sent, and he'd discard most of them, only taking the things he thought he could use, like photo frames. "Occasionally, a fan would send $50 or more," Opri says, and she told him it was important to send thank you letters and keep a record. He said it wasn't worth his "time or signature" and the task was relegated to her staff.

  Interestingly, Larry Birkhead's malpractice action against Debra Opri was filed by Michael Trope, originally of the Trope and Trope law firm, where Howard K. Stern's friend and secondary executor of Anna's will Ron Rale continues to work. Opri was notified of this action on the first night of June at her residence. Who actually served her the legal papers? None other than John Nazarian, the well-known private investigator Howard K. Stern had sent to Jack Harding's house. Jack Harding, the man Daniel tried to hire to investigate Howard right before Daniel's death.

  According to Opri, Nazarian told her to "be careful, they're out for your license" and that "an attorney's worst enemy is his client." Before he left, Nazarian also told Opri that he "felt bad for her" and wanted her to know that "Birkhead is a sick dude."

  Soon after that, Opri learned that Nazarian made contact with one of her law clerks for the stated purpose of "squeezing him" to "turn on Opri" or "they would come after him and 'get him.'" Those threats were reported to authorities.

  Opri charges that, "Birkhead, under the direction of Howard K. Stern, has filed this lawsuit against Opri for no other reason than to secure the remaining monies in his client trust fund, and not to pay Opri's bill."

  She states bluntly: "All persons are connected in some way to Howard K. Stern and his increasingly growing involvement with and control over Birkhead, guardian of Dannielynn, heir to the Anna Nicole Smith estate, including the Marshall monies."

  • • •

  Despite the perceived deal, Virgie Arthur hoped she'd still at least be able to see her biological granddaughter when she arrived on U.S. soil. But weeks passed and Virgie Arthur had not been allowed to see Dannielynn. Larry Birkhead was not retu
rning her calls and had not even sent Virgie so much as a photo of the baby, which she repeatedly asked for, so she could simply see what her granddaughter looks like. She had to

  settle with seeing the baby's growth, as the rest of the world did, on the front of OK! Magazine. Ironically, that was the same distant feeling Larry Birkhead had described to me in our first phone conversation. He told me he could only see his child by watching television.

  Virgie Arthur's team still kept urging Larry Birkhead to put the millions he's receiving through media deals into a trust for the baby, and have an independent company monitor it. "You can live on it," Virgie said. "But don't squander it." After she told Larry that, she says he's only called her once in six weeks to "threaten her that if she doesn't drop the guardianship suit in the Bahamas, then he'll make sure the court fines her and have her pay for his legal fees and flights to and from the Bahamas."

  Then, he told one of her representatives, "I have more money in my bank account than Virgie and her whole families' trailers are worth."