Mysteries Solved And Secrets Revealed
While it was a week of mysteries solved and secrets revealed, some questions are still left unanswered. This week's celebrity news sounds like a season-ending series cliff-hanger, but sometimes truth is indeed stranger than fiction.
Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer Howard K. Stern went on CNN's "Larry King Live" Tuesday to declare that he was the father of Smith's baby daughter, born Sept. 10. Photographer Larry Birkhead, who dated Smith, claims he's the father and called the announcement "laughable." In a note on his Web site, Birkhead wrote: "I maintain that I am the proud father and look forward to a paternity test."
More information about the death of Smith's son, Daniel, came to light this week. According to well-known American pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht, the 20-year-old died from the "accidental" effect of methadone and two antidepressant drugs interacting in his system. Although he's still waiting for the results of tissue tests to come back, Wecht ruled out suicide and believes Smith died from an accidental overdose.
The final Anna Nicole mystery was whether or not she got married to Howard K. Stern on Thursday. Her publicist confirmed that the couple were united in a "commitment ceremony" on Thursday morning in the Bahamas. It was not officially a wedding and no marriage certificate was issued.
Did controversial football star Terrell Owens try to commit suicide Tuesday night? Owens said he had taken a mix of the dietary supplements he ordinarily takes and prescription pain medicine. He was rushed to the hospital and police reported they were responding to an attempted suicide. Dallas police closed the case Thursday, classifying it as an "accidental overdose," not an attempted suicide.
The decision makes sense to this author. After all, why would a person take their dietary supplements on what they intended to be their last day on earth?
Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler revealed that he has been battling Hepatitis C. The large-mouthed rocker said that the infection is now "nonexistent" after 11 months of treatments that he said nearly killed him.
Will Paris Hilton have to go to jail for six months if she's convicted of driving under the influence? We'll have to wait a while to find out, now that a judge has approved Hilton's request to have her arraignment moved to Dec. 5. That does give Martha Stewart plenty of time to teach the heiress how to make crème brulee in a jail cell.
Maybe Paris can get some legal tips from former 98 Degrees singer Jeff Timmons. He originally faced charges of driving under the influence April 23, but those charges were dropped. He ended up pleading no contest to two misdemeanors Wednesday. He'll have to undergo treatment for alcohol and substance abuse and must perform 50 hours of community service.
Where was Naomi Campbell on the date of her court hearing on assault charges this week? Her lawyer said only that the British fashion model's absence was not related to work, but did not elaborate. Campbell, who's accused of assaulting her maid with a cell phone, is now due in court Nov. 15.
Maybe Naomi was hanging out somewhere with former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey. He was scheduled to read the Top Ten list on CBS' "Late Show With David Letterman" Thursday night, but was a no-show. The list he was supposed to read was called "Chapter Titles in Jim McGreevey's Book." A former Letterman writer read it instead.
What's up with Aaron Carter's short-lived marriage to Playboy playmate Kari Ann Peniche? The singer and soon-to-be reality TV star told The ShowBuzz on Monday that the marriage was not a publicity stunt for his new reality show, "House of Carters."
"It was more off of my feelings, you know, I just wanted to have somebody there for stability and to love. It was definitely not a publicity stunt," said Carter.
Did Jeanine Pirro, the GOP candidate for New York state Attorney General, conspire with former New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik to illegally record her husband, Albert? Pirro suspected her hubby of having an affair and contacted Kerik, now a private security consultant, in the middle of 2005 to discuss possibly placing a tape recorder on a boat owned by the couple.
What neither Pirro nor Kerik knew was that their conversations were being tape recorded by the Bronx district attorney's office, which was conducting an unrelated investigation of Kerik.
With stories like these, who needs prime-time drama? After all, we can't make this stuff up.
By Judy Faber