Howard K. Stern filed a $60 million suit against (1) Rita Cosby and (2) Hachette Book Group USA, Inc. today in an Atlanta federal court.  He’s asking for $10 million in actual damages and another $50 in punitive (or punishment) damages from the author and publisher of Blonde Ambition. 

Larry Burkhead isn’t a party to this suit; however, his lawyer is claiming that Larry will be filing suit against Cosby and her publisher, too. 

In his lawsuit, Howard K. Stern claims he has been harmed by the book, and that Anna Nicole Smith has been harmed, too, because the “[d]efendants have exploited Ms. Smith’s life and death by publishing false and defamatory factual accusations” against Stern.  Which implies that Dannielynn has been harmed, as well, even though she’s not a party nor is Anna Nicole’s estate at this point.

How is Dannielynn harmed?  Think of Lisa Marie and Elvis — Elvis’ legendary persona benefits Lisa Marie in many ways; if nasty things were imputed to Elvis now, Lisa Marie would be hurt financially and otherwise.  Same for Dannielynn — she stands to benefit from the continuing popularity of Anna Nicole and to the extent that Anna Nicole’s persona is harmed, DannieLynn is harmed as well.

Of course, how AnnaNicole’s reputation could be tarnished and harmed at this point — well, there’s a fact question for the jury if there ever was one ….

Larry Burkhead has been counter-sued this week by his former attorney, Debra Opri.  Debra Opri is claiming that Larry Birkhead harmed her reputation when he appeared on Larry King Live and said that Opri was a source for Rita Cosby, as she was writing her book, Blonde Ambition.  Opri’s alleging that she’s had to spend $200,000 on a “crisis management team” to “salvage” her reputation.  TMZ has put the Opri counterclaim online, if you want to read it.

What’s going on here? Can lawyers sue clients? Why would Opri sue Burkhead? And, will this force the revelation of the source materials for the Rita Cosby book?  Will we get to see the video here?

Read the rest of this entry »

Will Larry Birkhead Sue?  Larry Burkhead says he will, so does Howard K. Stern.  Nothing’s been filed yet.  Before pondering why not, let’s review what’s happened since our last post:

1.  DannieLynn turned one last week, and there was a big party for her in Kentucky: both Larry Burkhead and Howard K. Stern were there. 

2.  Rita Cosby’s book Blonde Ambition did hit the shelves, and was No. 56 at amazon.com at the time of this post. 

Of course, the price has been slashed in half, and it’s getting very bad reviews.  Readers are pointing out that the book has no index, no footnotes, no documentary support; one comparison to the heavily-documented John Belushi bio Wired has been made.   (Of course, Bob Woodward of Watergate fame wrote that one.)

And, in a truth is stranger than fiction report: this morning, amazon.com is offering a twofer deal: get Rita Cosby’s book AND O.J.Simpson’s If I Did It, where proceeds go to the Goldman Family, for $29.36.  That tells you something.

3.  Larry Birkhead just won a big round in his suit with Debra Opri: she doesn’t get a quiet arbitration, they’re headed for trial. The arbitration clause didn’t hold. 

4.  Some crazy guy just sued Howard K. Stern for $100 million.  Who?  The brother of Cosby’s source for the Stern-Burkhead gay lover story, Jackie Hatten.  Why is he in jail?  He serving 6+ years prison time for making criminal threats against Anna Nicole and actually attacking her neighbor.

Okay, so … will Larry sue? What about Howard? 

Read the rest of this entry »

On Friday, disgruntled Blockbuster customer enyaWeCurB posted a story of dissatisfaction with Blockbuster Videos, complete with giving the phone number of BB’s local Sherman Oaks branch store, for those who wish to let them know they shared enyaWecurB’s pain.   By Monday morning, the post had 1692 Diggs over at Digg.Com and was heralded as one of the Top 10 Posts for Entertainment by mid-morning.  Bet that the Sherman Oaks store doesn’t share this enthusiasm….

By posting this story of consumer dissatisfaction on the web, enyaWecurB has found an alternative to the usual path to justice that our society has established:  the judicial system.  What does this mean for enyaWecurB, and what does this mean for you?  Should you follow enyaWecurB’s example with your next consumer complaint?

Read the rest of this entry »