Anna Nicole’s Mother Sues TMZ’s Managing Editor Over Defamation
The mother of now-deceased Anna Nicole Smith is suing her daughter’s former lawyer as well as a number of celebrity websites for defamation of character.
Reuters reports Virgil Arthur filed papers in Texas court Monday, claiming that Smith’s love interest and lawyer Howard K. Stern, as well as the TMZ celebrity expose website, spread false rumors that she was the mother of her stepbrother’s child in a bid to ruin her reputation.
Also named in the lawsuit is Harvey Lenin, the “man-on-the-street” reporter on the television program The People’s Court, for his involvement as managing editor for TMZ. Lenin is also the host of the TMZ television spinoff. TMZ is operated by AOL.
Representatives for Stern, Lenin and TMZ declined to comment. Anna Nicole Smith died last year of an accidental drug overdose. Her death sparked courtroom drama, the most noted of which was the custody and paternity battle over Smith’s daughter Dannielynn.
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