Heartbreaking News Makes Anna Some Money
Tue, 09/19/2006 - 10:47am
Last week Anna Nicole Smith suddenly lost her 20-year-old son at the same time she was celebrating the birth of her new baby girl. The death of her son is still a mystery, but it turns out Anna Nicole is making some money off of this tragedy. In Touch outbid People magazine for the rights to pictures of Anna Nicole, her son Daniel and her daughter just before Daniel died. Here's more:
In Touch magazine paid as much as $400,000 for the print exclusive on photos, and the Paramount-produced television shows "Entertainment Tonight" and "The Insider" forked over an estimated $250,000 for the TV exclusive.
In Touch won the rights, I hear, after topping People's bid of $350,000. A spokeswoman for In Touch told me, "There is an incredible amount of emotion attached to this story and the photos, and our story will be a tribute to Daniel's life as a well as a celebration of it."
I'm told that Anna Nicole has vague plans to use a portion of the money for a Daniel Smith memorial, and it wasn't clear yesterday what percentage of the proceeds Getty is taking as a commission.
This whole thing is still so weird. There is so much mystery around Daniel's death. TMZ is reporting the latest on the cause of Daniel's death. Apparently they are now saying it was due to a fatal drug combo including anti-depressants and other prescription drugs. Either way it's a sad sad story and we never knew we could feel for Anna Nicole but we do. Let's hope the $650K helps her get over this mess.
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The death of ANNA NICOLE SMITH's son, DANIEL, remains a mystery until toxicology tests can hopefully determine the cause or causes of death. ET has obtained photographs taken just hours before young Daniel met his tragic demise. Showing a radiant Anna Nicole with her newborn girl and Daniel by their side, the family photograph is a bittersweet memento of what would be a tragic turn of events. See those photos tonight, only on ET. Meanwhile, the shocking and untimely death is still hitting home with friends and family here in the States. CHRISTINA CORIGLIANO, a freshman student studying journalism at L.A. Valley College, was acquainted with the 20-year-old Daniel, who attended the same school, and she was surprised to discover that her crush was the same young man making front page headlines in the news. The aspiring actress and on-air TV host tells ET she first heard the news about Daniel's death from her mom, and although people have talked about the news in class, she doesn't think a lot of people knew him. "He was always by himself," she says, explaining that although the two did not know each other well, they made small talk between classes as she worked up the nerve to get to know him better. "I never got my date," she adds with a sigh. "[Daniel] always seemed happy. He seemed like a really quiet kid, but usually it's the quiet kids that are, like, the wild ones. But from what I observed on campus, he seemed like he was just living his life, like he was very normal, so I think he had a good life." A good life cut short by unknown circumstances, CYRIL WECHT, a high-profile forensic pathologist who worked on the LACI PETERSON case, flew into Nassau last weekend and completed a second autopsy on Daniel at Anna Nicole's request. Wecht says that he could not determine a cause of death, but he was able to rule out several natural causes of death, including heart disease, stroke and certain congenital defects. The expert says Smith was on prescription anti-depression medication when he died, which the 20-year-old began about four to six weeks earlier, but he has yet to determine whether or not the prescription played any role in his death. Wecht said that he and the Bahamian coroner who did the initial autopsy agreed there was no evidence that Anna Nicole's son died from a "suicidal overdose." Wecht also told the Associated Press that homicide seemed unlikely: "I don't find anything that would cause me to believe there is something in terms of some traumatic injury that was inflicted, or somebody having done something to him in some cryptic manner that could not be observed." The medical examiner told reporters that he was reserving his final judgment until test results could be completed and he could examine Daniel's full medical history, which could take several weeks. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Anna Nicole Smith's Three-Ring Tragedy Circus
TMZ is reporting that Dr. Cyril Wecht, the private pathologist hired to perform a second autopsy on her son, has now allowed that "it could be a drug-related death of an accidental nature," while an unnamed source tells them that there were multiple prescription drugs in Daniel Smith's system, not just the single anti-depressant alluded to yesterday. Wecht later went on an expletive-filled tirade against Bahamian Coroner Linda Virgill, who stands firm that the "cause of death is known," yet for some reason still doesn't feel so secure in her "Mr. Green with the lead pipe in the library" theory as to share it with the world.
NY Daily News J.V. Gossip Lloyd Grove, meanwhile, reports today that those last photos of Daniel with his mother and baby sister sold to In Touch magazine for $400,000. The third-tier celebrity glossy outbid even the deep-pocketed People magazine, and will use them to offer readers as much spiritual uplift as you can expect to buy for, as the giant yellow circle on their cover classily reminds you, just $1.99.
"There is an incredible amount of emotion attached to this story and the photos, and our story will be a tribute to Daniel's life as a well as a celebration of it."I'm told that Anna Nicole has vague plans to use a portion of the money for a Daniel Smith memorial, and it wasn't clear yesterday what percentage of the proceeds Getty is taking as a commission.
But word is that freelance photographer Larry Birkhead -- who claims to be the father of the newborn, reportedly named Hannah -- also substantially fattened his bank account by cooperating with "E.T."
ETOnline posted part of Birkhead's touching, lucrative interview, though we can't seem to get it to play*. Making up for that disappointment, however, was their exclusive access to Christina Corigliano--a girl who, like Daniel did, also goes to L.A. Valley College and recognized him on news reports as that cute guy in some of her classes who she talked to a few times. "'I never got my date,' she adds with a sigh." We feel so much better having heard her story.
*The video appears to be working now.
Anna Nicole 'pockets £300,000' from pictures of dead son
Last updated at 16:19pm on 19th September 2006 
Anna Nicole Smith has sold the last pictures of her son alive
The former Playmate posed with tragic Daniel and his new sister in a Bahamian maternity ward the night before he was found dead.
Daniel, 20, was discovered slumped in a chair at the hospital on September 10.
Authorities in the Caribbean have launched an inquiry into the sudden death of Daniel, who was known to be taking anti-depressants at the time.
Smith's representatives and her photo agent Getty Images have reportedly been paid the cash by a US magazine and TV shows.
In Touch magazine paid a reported £212,000 for the print exclusive.
And the Paramount-produced television shows 'Entertainment Tonight' and 'The Insider' allegedly paid an estimated £132,000 for the TV rights.
"There is an incredible amount of emotion attached to this story and the photos, and our story will be a tribute to Daniel's life as well as a celebration of it," an In Touch spokesman said.
"I'm told that Anna Nicole has vague plans to use a portion of the money for a Daniel Smith memorial and it wasn't clear yesterday what percentage of the proceeds Getty is taking as a commission," a New York Daily News columnist wrote.
Anna Nicole Smith has still not been seen publicly since the sudden death of her son.
A spokesman for Paramount Television did not make a comment.
