This just seems like a recipe for disaster. Terri Irwin received the original copy of the video of her husband dying at the unlikely end of an aggresive stingray. All of copies of the graphic incident have been reportedly destroyed. Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was filming a show called Ocean’s Deadliest when one of the ocean’s most gentle creatures got agitated and whipped it’s tail up into his chest.
Terri was said to be devastated by a cartoon parody of her deceased husband on South Park, so of course this graphic video of his death is going to be the hardest thing she’s ever watched. I personally could not stand to see the video of Saddam Hussein’s execution, and cannot imagine having to watch a video of a loved one’s death. The video seems like the type of thing that would haunt you if you had it in your possession. If you didn’t watch it, you would think about it all the time and wonder if you should take the leap to see it. If you did watch it the images would play over and over again in your mind. If someone gave me a video of my husband dying I don’t think I would watch it and would give it to a trusted friend or put it in a safe deposit box.
The rest of us may not be able to see the video of poor Steve Irwin’s death, but the other footage he filmed during his ill-fated ocean stint will be aired shortly. Ocean’s Deadliestpremieres on Animal Planet on January 21st at 8:00 PM.
James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, died in an Atlanta hospital on Christmas morning at the age of 73. He died of heart failure brought on by pneumonia. Brown had diabetes and also suffered from prostate cancer which was in remission.
His death was unexpected and he was scheduled to play in BB King’s Blues Club in NY this New Years. Until he took a turn for the worse, his doctor told him he could make the performance. He was accompanied at the hospital by his close friend, Charles Bobbit.
Mr. Copsidas [Brown's rep] told The Associated Press that doctors do not know what caused the pneumonia, only that Mr. Brown’s illness was discovered by his dentist during a recent appointment in Atlanta. Mr. Brown had diabetes, and he also had prostate cancer that was in remission, Mr. Bobbit said.
Mr. Brown initially seemed to be fine when he was in the hospital and had even told people that he planned to be back on stage for the New Year’s Eve performance, Mr. Copsidas said.
Mr. Bobbit said Mr. Brown grew progressively worse as time passed.
“He had a cold and cough for some time, but he started coughing bad in the last few days,” Mr. Bobbit said.
He added, “The doctor we spoke to that was treating him said we could not do the first couple of shows but that there was a possibility if he got much better and could handle it we could be at B.B. King’s for the New Year’s Eve show,” Mr. Bobbit said.
Brown was from Augusta, Georgia and is known for his good works in his hometown. He gave out Turkeys every Thanksgiving and was just at his 15th annual Christmas present giveaway last Friday. The mayor expressed shock that he had passed away as he seemed fine during the charity event.
James Brown had 98 hits on the R&B top 40 singles chart, well more than any other artist. His career spans five decades and his unique hip-swaying funk style has influenced music of all genres. In the late 80s, hip hop artists started sampling James Brown and his work was seminal in early rap hits like Eric B and Rakim’s “I Know you Got Soul,” and Kid ‘n Play’s “Rolling with Kid ‘n Play.” James Brown was sampled extensively on the Public Enemy album “It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.”
Many funk stars including Bootsy Collins and Maceo Parker got their start in Brown’s band.
Unfortunately Brown’s reputation as a humanitarian and the hardest working man in showbusiness is overshadowed by his personal problems. As a troubled orphan, he spent three years in a juvenile correctional home after he was caught stealing clothes out of cars at the young age of 15. He later served two years in prison out of a six year sentence when he was convicted of beating his wife with a pipe and shooting at her car in 1988. He took police on a two state car chase in September, 1988, and was charged with carrying an unlicensed weapon and assaulting an officer.
In death Brown is no less controversial. His lawyer and accountant are said to have instructed his security staff to padlock the gate on his Beech Island, South Carolina mansion, barring his widow, Tomi Rae Brown from entering. Tomi’s name is not on the deed to the home, and she says she has no money and nowhere else to go. She claims that Brown’s lawyer and accountant have “been robbing from him all of his life and they’ll do it in death.” Tomi Rae, a backup singer, is Brown’s fourth wife and is the mother of their five year-old son. Brown has three six children from his prior marriages.
While Brown is said to have passed at the age of 73, some people believe he is older. His real age is unknown as he was not born in a hospital and was raised by his aunt in a Georgia brothel after his mother died in childbrith.
Here’s a segment of Brown singing “A Man’s World”
A compilation of his performances:
And his most recognized song, “I Feel Good”
I was playing James Brown’s music while writing this post and my two year old song was dancing and smiling. RIP James Brown, your work will influence countless generations of musicians.
Going topless while on vacation is way cooler than flashing your vag on an average night out in LA. Moss has bared it for magazines before, so she probably won’t care that these pictures are out. The agency whose photographer snapped the picture, Flynet, claims that Moss has now broken up with troubled bad boy Pete Doherty.
Doherty is a suspicious figure in the death of a fellow party-goer last week. Doherty was seen arguing with the man, who fell from his death at some point from a second story balcony at the party. He avoided talking to the police that night and left the scene of the accident before they arrived. Doherty later went apeshit out at a pub and threw glasses and tables around. Police say he is not a suspect and that they have questioned him, but the man’s family say that they want to know the truth and do not consider the matter settled.
Maybe Kate has moved on with her life after this latest scandal, but that’s doubtful. She is staying in Jamaica at James Bond writer Ian Fleming’s former estate.
My father gave me a copy of his American Airlines in-flight magazine a while ago, and there was an article about a group of celebrity grave spotting enthusiasts called Hollywood Underground. The article wasn’t that informative, but I’ve been enjoying their website with guides to seeing your favorite celebrities’ resting places around LA. The next time I’m in California, I’ll be sure to visit a cemetery or two.
The Sanctuary of Heritage within the Freedom Mausoleum at Forest Lawn, Glendale,
Hollywood Forever cemetery on Santa Monica Boulevard seems like a lovely place to pay a visit. It was recently restored by a new owner and features a fountain and spacious lawns. Luminaries such as director Cecil de Mille, actors Tyrone Power and Rudolph Valentino, and rock stars Johnny and Dee Dee Ramone can be found there.
The large catholic cemetary Holy Cross in Culver City has some worthwhile graves. It’s a large active cemetary though and a nearby funeral might offer a stark reality check for your dead celebrity tourism. Among the names at Holy Cross are famed vampire actor Bela Lugosi, singing and dancing sensation Bing Crosby, and the late great comedian John Candy. Tragically murdered Sharon Tate and beloved actress Ann Miller also reside there.
Rather than trying to sit outside Hyde or The Ivy to catch a glimpse of some underfed girl with fake hair, you can pay your respects to the celebrities of generations past. They seem much more deserving.
Ed Bradley, the 60 Minutes news anchor with the earring and the cool demeanor, has died of leukemia at the age of 65:
The celebrated “60 Minutes” newsman, who died yesterday of leukemia at 65, was certainly learned, absolutely a globe-trotter, and highly honored. But it was his cool that drew bearhugs from men and cheek-to-cheek kisses from women all over the world…
He often turned his interviews into gabfests, into something akin to a kitchen chat at Thanksgiving. (They took on far more intensity when he was interviewing murderers or bombers.) And there were those across black America who wondered if as many black legends — Lena Horne, Muhammad Ali — would have been profiled were it not for his presence.
“Ed was as comfortable talking to Lena Horne as standing out on the White House lawn,” says Thornton. “What he brought to ’60 Minutes’ was not only the diversity of his person — his hipness, his music — but he extended that to the stories he covered. Thereby introducing America to those things.”
RIP Ed Bradley, America loved you and you will be sorely missed.
Yesterday I ignored Anna Nicole because I was Halloween hungover and almost as sick of her as I am Madonna. Madonna talked more crap about baby pawn Davie Banda, saying people don’t understand why she has a child of a different color and that she doesn’t consider that more shocking than her horse-themed S&M show (Tickets still available!) or her new children’s book (in stores soon!)
Like Madonna, Anna Nicole is still making disturbing, unbelievable headlines as the latest news in her sad saga is released. There was a report that Anna wanted to bring Daniel’s body with her if she got deported from the Bahamas for not being a bona fide homeowner. She was actually said to be considering exhuming him to take him to the states with her. I really hope that’s not true, but considering that she took over a month to bury him and then asked the undertaker at his funeral if she could bathe him, it sounds plausible.
Daniel’s toxicology report reveals he had seven drugs, not just three, in his system at the time of his death. He was on several cold medications, a sedative, and yet another antidepressant along with the deadly combination of Lexapro, methadone, and Zoloft that was said to have killed him. One of the drugs he was on was Amitryptaline, a mild antidepressant that is sometimes prescribed for unspecified muscle and joint pain. I was on Amitryptaline several years ago when I suffered a drug interaction from just that and Neurontin, which I was given for bad circulation. The effects were so severe that I had slurred speech for hours and had to go to the emergency room. If that’s what happened to me with two drugs it’s not shocking that a cocktail of similar drugs would kill someone.
The man who claims he’s the father of Anna Nicole’s less than two month old newborn claims in new court papers that she dyed the tyke’s hair to get her to look more like her the other guy she claims is the father. He says that in clips he saw of an upcoming “Entertainment Tonight” interview with Smith the baby’s hair is now dark when it was blonde when she was first born. He think Anna dyed the baby’s hair and says it’s “horrendous” and harmful to the child.
Anna Nicole had pneumonia recently and had to be treated at the same hospital where she gave birth and Daniel died. Her lung needed to be drained of excessive fluid after severe pain sent her to the emergency room. The illness was blamed on a “cold snap,” but as Mollygood points out it’s been consistenly warm in the Bahamas so it’s more likely that she’s just worn out from too much drugs and drama.
Anna Nicole managed to kept her foolish mouth shut for almost two months, but that’s going to change soon. An interview with her will air tonight on “Entertainment Tonight” spinoff “The Insider,” in which she wonders aloud why God didn’t take her instead of Daniel. We are wondering the same thing.
Is Steve Irwin fair dinkum game now that he’s been dead over a month? Controversial liberal talkshow host Bill Maher and the creators of South Park think so. Maher donned a tasteless Halloween costume featuring a red wig and sleevless khaki shirt with a stingray’s tail sticking out of his chest complete with fake blood. It’s a clever idea for a costume but it seems like a cruel stunt for a famous person to pull so soon after Irwin’s death.
Terri, 42, is said to be worried that Irwin’s children BINDI, eight, and BOB, two, will see the show, which portrays the late star with a stingray sticking out of his chest less than two months after he died. Last night (27OCT06), Australian TV channel SBS said it is planning to air the episode in Australia next year (07) or in 2008. It has already been shown in the US. A friend of Irwin’s widow says, “Terri is devastated Steve is being mocked in such a cruel way. Her worry is that Bindi and Bob will see it and break down. “Steve had as big a sense of humour as anyone, but this goes too far too soon.” British TV naturalist MARK AMEY, 44, who worked alongside Irwin, backed the sentiments, saying, “My message to people is don’t watch the show. It’s distasteful s**t. Let’s hope none of Steve’s fans who keep poisonous animals happen to find the addresses of those behind the show and leave them a nice surprise.”
Irwin is shown in South Park as a guy at Satan’s Halloween party who is mistaken for someone wearing a costume. In this clip, which I’m pretty sure is the one that’s referred to in the story, Irwin is chastized by Satan for daring to mock the accident so soon after it happened. He then says he’s the real Steve Irwin and Satan kicks him out for not having a costume. That’s obnoxious, but that’s how South Park is and they’re basically admitting that it’s tasteless.
Anna Nicole Smith was indeed served eviction papers by yet another man who could potentially be Dannielynne’s father, as we reported yesterday.
It turns out that Anna was banging a guy in Florida at the same time she got sperminated by the most likely candidate, paparrazi photographer Larry Birkhead. The other guy was a wealthy old real estate developer, and true to form Anna tried to pin the pregnancy on him since he has more cash and she’s still waiting for the over half a billion she thinks she’s owed for being married to a 89 year-old man for just over a year.
Sources say in May of this year, Anna Nicole contacted Thompson to say that he was the father of her soon-to-be-born baby girl. It’s especially interesting because we’re told that Anna Nicole had contacted people familiar with Thompson inquiring about his wealth. That’s when Thompson dropped a bombshell — that it was impossible for him to father a baby because he had already had a vasectomy. Days later, sources say Anna Nicole confessed to Thompson that Larry Birkhead was the father. Birkhead, an entertainment photographer who had a relationship with Anna Nicole, has filed legal papers in Los Angeles to establish paternity.
What’s more, Anna was hanging out with her creepy lawyer, Howard K. Stern, down in Florida at the same time she was screwing Thompson. This lends credence to Larry Birkhead’s claim that Howard is just Anna’s buddy and methadone supplier and there’s no way he’s the father of her newborn.
The house worth $1 million where Anna is staying in the Bahamas, and upon which her residency depends since she claims to be a homeowner, is owned by Thompson.
If Anna gets deported to the states because she no longer has a house in the Bahamas she could be legally forced to get paternity testing due to Larry Birkhead’s lawsuit. Anna and Howard claim the baby is Howard’s due to “timing,” but have refused to submit to any DNA tests. Anna and Howard did not show up for a meeting in the Bahamas with Birkhead’s lawyer on Monday, making it seem like they’re avoiding the paternity issue at all costs.
The complexity of Anna’s situation is probably completely lost to her, but at least the methadone is taking the edge off. She took 39 days to bury her son Daniel after he died of a drug interaction in her hospital room. She wailed unconsolably at the funeral, and asked the funeral director if she could take her dead son’s corpse home for a warm bath.
It’s hard to imagine how the Anna Nicole Smith saga could get any more Shakespearean. (Unless Daniel was the father of her baby, Howard was really a woman, and all of them go to jail. That sounds like a fitting outcome.)
Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K. Stern’s drug den in the Bahamas is rented, and they haven’t paid anything for it, so the owner might evict them. What’s more is that he’s also rumored to be the father of Anna’s baby. Who isn’t?
Will Anna Nicole Smith lose her house in the Bahamas?
The former reality-show star moved there to avoid the media, she claims, but some are saying that she went to the Bahamas to escape U.S. laws which would force her to submit her baby to paternity tests.
Smith has said that her lawyer, Howard K. Stern, is the father of her baby girl, but freelance photographer Larry Birkhead, has said the child is his. And last week, a report appeared claiming that the father of the baby might be a well-to-do man of a certain age named Ben Thompson. It turns out that Thompson paid for the house, according to buzz, and a source tells The Scoop that Thompson’s threatening to evict Smith.
“Anna was supposed to pay him back or pay rent,” says the insider. “She got a ton of money selling photos of her with her baby, but so far, she’s not paying rent. Thompson’s totally disgusted by the whole thing. He’s drawing up papers to get her booted out.”
Smith and her rep couldn’t be reached for comment.
Meanwhile add Anna’s half-sister, Donna Hogan, to the list of relatives that are trashing her. Her sister says she’s a “freaking waste of a human being” for waiting so long to bury her son but managing to get married and sell the pictures in the very long interim. By the way, her sister is also publishing a tell-all book about Anna that will come out next month.
Among the revelations in the book is Donna’s suggestion that Anna’s long-dead husband, billionaire J. Howard Marshall, could be the father of Dannielynn because Anna “always talked of freezing [Howard's] sperm”
According to Hogan, Smith “doesn’t even know who the father of her children is,” and suggests that her newborn’s father could be her late husband, millionaire J. Howard Marshall, because Smith “always talked of freezing the old man’s sperm.”
Last week, an attorney for Anna said she would not submit Dan-nielynn to a DNA test demanded by ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead, who believes he, not her lawyer Howard K. Stern, is the daddy.
Anna’s own mother said just last week that Daniel’s death was suspicious and that Howard K. Stern should be investigated.
Daniel Smith was finally buried yesterday after dying accidentally from a drug interaction 39 days prior. In the long interim between his death and funeral, his mother Anna Nicole Smith staged a fake wedding, bribed the Bahamian government to fast track her citizenship application, and brokered lucrative deals with photo agencies for pictures of her commitment ceremony and her son’s last precious moments with his new baby sister.
“Anna Nicole Smith laid her son to rest today. It was the most difficult day of her entire life,” Howard K. Stern, the model’s lawyer turned paramour, said.
Stern also gave the eulogy at the service.
“Daniel is Anna’s rock, and that became even more profound at today’s emotional service. Howard, Anna and [daughter] Dannielynn Hope need to cherish, love and be strong. May the blessings of peace, hope, life and, above all, love, be theirs,” added Alex Goen, CEO of TrimSpa.
While Smith’s camp declined to go into detail, a spokeswoman for the local Lakeview Memorial Gardens & Mausoleums confirmed to the Associated Press that the funeral had taken place at the cemetery.
Deborah Cartwright told the wire service that a gold-colored hearse brought Daniel’s body to the grounds, on which a large green tent had been erected for the private service. She said that he was interred in a mahogany casket.
To ensure the affair was kept as private as possible, six police officers stood guard at the cemetery’s main entrance, with plainclothes officers stationed outside the tent. Invited guests of the service were the only people allowed on the grounds for the duration of the funeral.
Earlier in the week, Entertainment Tonight reported that roughly 25 mourners were expected and that Daniel would likely be buried wearing a trucker cap, T-shirt and blue jeans, his preferred wardrobe.
ET also claimed that the mourning mother would be wearing a black dress and veil to the service, created specially for the occasion by designer Pol’ Atteu, the clothier responsible for Smith’s last-minute matrimonial garb for her commitment ceremony to Stern last month.
I’m so glad that Anna was able to wear custom couture to her son’s funeral.
While Anna’s pathologist has said that Daniel died from a drug combination of the antidepressants Lexapro and Zoloft along with the heroin substitute methadone, the Bahamian authorities have yet to make an announcement as to the cause of death. The Bahamian police investigation is complete, with the findings handed over to the attorney general’s office, who will determine if an additional inquest is needed. I wonder if Anna and Howard bribed that guy yet.
The photographer who claims he’s the father of Anna Nicole’s baby, Larry Birkhead, has filed suit to get her lawyer, the other guy who claims to be the baby’s father Howard K. Stern, to take a paternity test. He also put up a website for his newborn (site has automatic music) to let the little one know how much he wants to meet her.
I’m getting sick of this whole soap opera, but I really want to see Howard K. Stern and Anna Nicole Smith get some jail time for supplying Daniel with the methadone that killed him.
