Anna Nicole Smith – A Mea Culpa
[posted by Justin Levine]
After several days of thinking about it, I’m ready to eat crow. Throw in the towel. Raise the white flag. Beg for mercy in the court of the blogosphere.
I’m now ready to admit that the Anna Nicole Smith story that I linked to last week is probably bogus.
As I argued at the time, the story was admittedly rich in detail and offered a logical explanation as to why Anna Nicole wrote her will the way she did. It was also plausible in my mind that 9/11 would have allowed her to have a child in secrecy two weeks later.
However, an astute commenter alerted me to the fact that the birth certificate didn’t contain Anna Nicole’s legal name (Vicky Lynn Marshall). That, plus the following facts now make me think that the story is bogus –
The fact that there are no photographs of the father without his sunglasses on.
The fact that the New Times has a history of hoax stories (though admittedly done mostly around April Fools’ Day).
The fact that no legal action has been brought by the father on behalf of his child in order to get a chunk of the Anna Nicole estate.
There is also the fact that most of the other media hasn’t bit (though I haven’t always found that to be a significant indicator one way or the other).
But the bottom line is: You skeptics are probably right. I am probably wrong. Admittedly, I always left open the possibility that the story might not pan out – but I’m not going to hide behind that. A black mark against your humble blogger! Excuse me while I quietly slink into the dungeon for my lashes…
[Update 3-19-07 : It’s official. It’s a hoax.]
Don’t sweat it. All mythology is good mythology. As for the folks who
arepretend to be down on Anna Nicole Smith:Sweet cream ladies forward march;
nk (48b04e) — 3/13/2007 @ 5:15 pmPuritans ignore them
Sweet cream ladies do their part;
Sweet cream men adore them
Let them satisfy the ego of the male
Let them fabricate success to those who fail,
And should penalties pursue them,
When there’s really credit due them,
They might keep a simple fellow out of jail!
There’s no better person to believe a conspiracy theory about than ANS.
DRJ (53e939) — 3/13/2007 @ 5:49 pmMay she rest in piece, I’m familiar with a couple of other [i]significant[/i] fabrications having to do with Anna Nicole, who has certainly become an inspiration for all women here in my home state of Texas and adopted hometown of Houston.
Beldar (24e978) — 3/13/2007 @ 8:00 pmI should have warned you New Slime’s rep is crap. They were credible many, many years ago.
Hard Right (06d091) — 3/13/2007 @ 8:20 pmBeldar:
Given the context of the “significant fabrications,” I daresay you purposefully chose the spelling in the bolded phrase. Either way, it’s incredibly apt and really, really funny.
DRJ (53e939) — 3/13/2007 @ 8:26 pmMeant to write “career women,” actually, and obviously there was the html italics error. But I didn’t intend “piece,” which would have been crude (and, probably, indeed funny). Calling Dr. Freud?
Beldar (24e978) — 3/13/2007 @ 9:01 pmI’m sorry to highlight your comment but I viewed it as a play on words and not something crude.
DRJ (53e939) — 3/13/2007 @ 9:28 pmKudos for taking the time to make corrections — wish more sites were as conscientious.
Moderate Hick (5b67bc) — 3/14/2007 @ 8:10 amPlease!!! No More Anna Nicole!!! My brain is melting!!!
old_dawg (792114) — 3/14/2007 @ 11:03 amAnna Nicole Smith Love Child Hoax
A story in the Phoenix New Times said this was Anna Nicole Smith’s lovechild, a story they now admit was a hoax.
http://www.insideedition.com/ourstories/inside_stories/story.aspx?storyid=666
V (a90377) — 3/15/2007 @ 5:17 pm