Does Howard K. Stern ever find time to sleep? The latest on his laundry list of “to do” items is a continuation of a September 2008 defamation suit against his deceased’s girlfriend’s (Anna Nicole Smith) daughter’s (Dannielynn) daddy’s (Larry Birkhead) former bodyguard (Mark Speer). (Yes, feel free to take a re-read).
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary H. Strobel ruled that a jury could find Speer and actress Jackie Hatten made incriminating statements about him in Rita Cosby’s tell-all 2007 book, Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith’s Death. Hatten, the sister of Mark Hatten, a former boyfriend of Smith, has not responded to the complaint and no formal judgment has yet been signed.
Stern, 40, asserts the allegations in the book are patently false and emphatically stated, “I never facilitated or promoted any type of drug use, prescription or otherwise. Anna was an intelligent, strong-willed individual who made her own decisions and was not controlled by anyone or anything.”
Cosby is being sued separately for publishing allegations that Stern and Birkhead were gay lovers.
Speer’s lawyer, Mark Kane, said Stern’s lawsuit would have a negative impact on both his client and on Cosby if it moves forward, and that he may appeal the judge’s ruling. Kane also claimed eventual victory because material facts supporting Speer’s case have not yet been brought to the court’s attention.
One of Stern’s many lawyers, David N. Tarlow, said he was pleased with the decision and argued that much of what Speer said about Stern was based on what he claimed to have overheard from Birkhead. But Birkhead has denied making the remarks and also says Speer was not present when the former bodyguard claims to have overheard them, Tarlow said.
Judge Strobel set a trial date for next Jan. 25th, but both sides have agreed to see if they can resolve the case with the help of a court mediation team.
Well, since he has been arrested for conspiring with 2 Dr.’s to supply mass quantities of downers to a known addict, how the heck can what Speers said be false? And Birkhead has changed his story many times since the deal he made with Stern.
arrested is not convicted in case you forget that very well known fact and How would you even know about any deals anyway.IMO no one conspired to give ANS drugs which were prescribed by a doctor not HKS and were for unknown medical reasons which the public does not yet know about
Could this group of people be more litigious? Seriously, it’s one law suit after another!
Johm, arrested is not convicted, but since the instruments of death in the hotel room from hell had Sterns name on them, good luck squeezing out of that one.
The deal was obvious the moment it happened, when Stern and Brickhead hugged on the courthouse steps and Brickhead began to lie and change every story he told. To hell with justice for his daughter, he and Stern were gonna share the offshore and hot smoochy lips money.
ANS was getting more downers than terminal cancer patients get, and had no medical reason for it.
chalkoutline said it right. I enjoyed Rita Cosby’s very excellent book “Blonde Ambition” which gave proofs. In my opinion, HKS also was an instrument of death for Danny, the son of ANS.
What proof exactly did “Blonde Ambition” provide? That book was an insane collection of allegations and Cosby was even caught red handed trying to bribe 2 women to back up her stories…the same 2 women she claimed were her sources. To the real point, the amount of meds that Anna Nicole was being given was absolutely unconscionable and because Howard had a big hand in the acquisition of those drugs he will have to prove his innocence or face jail time. I bet Howard yearns for the days when he was chasing Anna’s pipe dream of an award from the Marshall estate and shouting her case to every court that would have her, instead of the situation he finds himself in currently…the courts chasing him and trying to jail him for his involvement in Anna’s death.
Andrew, tell us more about “caught red-handed”?
—As to allegations, Rita Cosby named names, gave courts. and documented her sources accurately to my satisfaction. What specifically was lacking to you?
–and I agree with you “To the real point…amount of drugs…unconscionable…Howard…acquision of those drugs…”