TrimSpa CEO: Anna Nicole Was Misunderstood
Bizarre rumors are still swirling in the wake of Anna Nicole Smith's death.
Her friend and former boss, Alex Goen, the founder and CEO of TrimSpa, the weight-loss pill Smith endorsed, says that the model was misunderstood in life and perhaps in death.
From photos of Smith's refrigerator in the Hollywood, Fla., hotel where she died, to photos of her in the arms of an immigration minister in the Bahamas, more information continues to surface about the playmate's troubled life.
A government official says the Smith was merely friends with the minister, who is accused of fast-tracking Smith's residency.
"We're not a nation for sale, whether its monetary sale or sexual favor," Omar Smith of the Bahamas Democratic Movement told CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella. "We demand his resignation."
The recent revelations raise more questions about what could have lead to Smith's death at age 39, just five months after giving birth to her daughter and losing her 20-year-old son, Daniel.
The photos of Smith's refrigerator show Slimfast, a TrimSpa rival, and methadone, which was found in her son's system after he died.
"As far as the methadone goes, I don't know what to say about that," Goen told The Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm. "Was Anna on prescription drugs? You know, that's not my business. That's between her and her doctor. As far as the Slimfast goes, I mean you have to look at that picture and kind of question it. All the bottles seemed to be pointed in the proper direction so there's a good shot of it. I understand this picture has been authenticated, but by who?"
One of the three men who claim to be the father of Smith's daughter, Dannielynn, photographer Larry Birkhead says that Smith was on a drug detoxification program when she was pregnant. Goen said he knew she was in detox in 1995, but was unaware of anything recent.
Goen said that the public has an inaccurate view of Smith. He said she wasn't as wealthy as most people believe she would be as the widow billionaire J. Howard Marshall II. Goen said that her slurred speech could have more to do with her social anxiety than with being under the influence.
"The first time I met her, she didn't talk very comfortably. Her vocal chords tightened up, she sounded like a little child," he said. "We did a TrimSpa event about a year and a half ago and she met with a lot of our customers. The first couple of days meeting with the customers she was nervous, she was uncomfortable. And then by the last day she's hugging everyone and she's meeting everyone. She was sorry the event was over. That kind of seemed to be the way she operated."
Questions about the sobriety of her partner, Howard K. Stern, have also been raised, but Goen said he never saw Stern take drugs, either.
"You know, hey, some of the things they say about him are true," Goen said. "He definitely controlled Anna to this extent. He wanted to make sure Anna was not overstressed, not overworked, she was properly rested. He really took care of Anna — sometimes frustrated us. We were doing a recent event coming up in about a week. When I talked to Howard, Howard would say, 'Anna can only do a couple hours a day every other day.' Anna said, 'I want to do the whole entire day.' "
Meanwhile, Stern was shocked to return to the home he shared with Smith and find that someone had been broken in to it.
"It's like grave robbing," said Wayne Munroe, Smith's attorney. "It's burglarizing someone's house when you know they're dealing with the death of a loved one. I don't know what could be worse than that."
Hundreds of miles away in Dania Beach, Fla., the slow process of figuring out what killed Smith on Thursday continues to unfold. The chief medical examiner, Dr. Joshua Perper, who still has not determined the cause or manner of death, interviewed Smith's partner Howard K. Stern and her doctor over the phone Monday.
"They were very cooperative," Perper said. "They held back no information so far as I can see; the information was valuable to us."