"Anna Nicole, She's So Outrageous"
Anna Nicole Smith's story was a bizarre one when she was alive, and now the coverage of her death is, at moments, equally bizarre.
Case in point: Larry King, of course, devoted an entire hour of CNN's Larry King Live to the reality TV star/Z-movie actress/Trimspa Goddess' untimely demise; he interviewed several people who had an association with Smith, including Monique Goen, the wife of embattled Trimspa CEO Alex Goen.
Serious wackiness worthy of any reality show ensued when Goen began to attack a fellow guest, the massive female wrestler Joanie Laurer, a.k.a. Chyna, (Smith's co-star in the sure-to-be-classic Illegal Aliens and a former cast member of VH1's The Surreal Life), saying that Laurer was never a friend of Smith's and that Smith, in fact, had referred to her as a stalker.
Laurer's stuttering, bumbling, incoherent reply, and her entire unintelligible appearance on the show, was spookily reminiscent of several of Smith's slurring, inarticulate talk-show appearances. Even King seemed to have no idea what to do with Laurer as she rambled on and on; he finally cut to a commercial break as she was still blathering to herself.
Smith certainly leaves a fascinating three-ring-circus legacy. We eagerly await those Larry Birkhead appearances.
By Rebecca Stropoli
Broadcasting & Cable Newsletter
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