Daggers From Anna Nicole's Half-Sister
Anna Nicole Smith's half-sister lashed out at Howard K. Stern and Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, on The Early Show Tuesday.
In her first interview since Smith died of what authorities say was an accidental overdose in early February, Donna Hogan seemed to blame Stern, at least in part, for Smith's death. He was Smith's companion at the time.
Hogan also says Smith's mother, Virgie Arthur, shouldn't get custody of Smith's infant daughter, Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern.
Hogan and Smith have the same father, Donald Hogan.
Hogan made her comments in talking with co-anchor Hannah Storm about Hogan's new book, "Train Wreck: The Life and Death of Anna Nicole Smith," which hits bookstores this week.
In the book, which was penned with the help of writer Henrietta Tiefenthaler, Hogan describes Smith — or Vicki Lynn Hogan, as she was known to her family members — as an in-your-face symbol of the age.Photos: Day Of Anna Nicole's Funeral
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The book tracks their dysfunctional, dirt-poor family and Smith's determination to claw her way to the top of the celebrity heap.Timeline: Anna Nicole Smith
Why the title, "Train Wreck?"
"I guess," Hogan told Storm, "because that's what the media kept typecasting her as, you know, and the more I saw her toward the end of her career, that's what she basically looked like. I felt really bad for her."
"I've just have seen some stuff about (him) when my sister was pregnant, and it didn't look like he was too concerned about the baby's health or anything," she told Storm.
Storm quoted from a letter Hogan wrote to Smith that appears I the book: "It is hard to believe he was not responsible for your death. It is obvious to me that not only did he fail to stop you from destroying yourself, he was actually an enabler who led you astray and caused your death."
Hogan expanded on that, telling Storm: "He was the one that was there the whole time. He was the one that let her continue to destroy herself with drugs. You know, I just figured if he loved her so much and everything, he should have tried. I know she's stubborn and stuff and people are going to do what they want to do, but he should have really, really tried to get her some help."
Hogan hadn't seen Smith for the past 10 years.
"I did try to speak out to her after the American Music Awards," Hogan told Storm. "You know, that was like the breaking point, where she was just getting really bad. … To me, it looked like a severe cry for help, you know, and I did my first interview just to tell her, you know, we all make mistakes and everything, and, you know, we're here for her. I was hoping that she would get some help."
But, Hogan asserted, Stern "basically" kept Smith's family away.
"I mean," Hogan said, "he would always just make comments to us that, you know, we weren't wanted and everything in the public. Just — I don't know, it was just she — he always spoke … for her."
Hogan told Storm she hopes Smith's mother loses her battle for custody of Dannielynn, "because, despite how my sister was towards the end, she might not have been completely there and stuff, but she did not want her to have her. … I think you should respect somebody's rights and everything. I mean, no."
As for whether Dannielynn deserves a part of Marshall's fortune, Hogan said, "I think the baby deserves a really great life, but, I mean, I don't think my sister was ever entitled to half of it, but, I mean, I will always make sure that little girl is taken care of."
Hogan also addressed not being able to make peace with Smith before Smith died: "That was the whole main purpose of doing this book. I just wanted her — I wanted to be able to tell her the stuff that I wasn't able to tell her that she stopped me from saying before."
Hogan will continue her discussion with Storm on The Early Show Wednesday.