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Tyler Henry Connects Larry Birkhead to Anna Nicole Smith
Perhaps it's fitting however overmuch Dannielynn Birkhead loves rollercoasters when you see the tedious climbs and sharp descents that marked her archetypal twelvemonth of life.
There was the untimely passing of half-brother Daniel Smith, who overdosed portion visiting ma Anna Nicole Smith and her newborn girl successful a Bahamian hospital, and the eerily akin decease of the larger-than-life erstwhile Playboy exemplary conscionable months later.
And, of course, the custody circus that ensued with freelance lensman Larry Birkhead, Smith's lawyer Howard K. Stern and adjacent Zsa Zsa Gabor's hubby Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt staking their assertion for the 5-month-old. The weeks-long spectacle finally ended successful April 2007 with Larry, paternity results successful hand, stepping extracurricular the Nassau courthouse to archer the reporters, photographers and funny locals that gathered, "I hatred to beryllium the 1 to accidental this but...I told you so."
So the information that Larry has described his no-longer-so-little miss arsenic fearless, the benignant of idiosyncratic who embraces each the twists, turns and heart-dropping falls that travel her way? Yeah, that checks out.
Of course, these days, Larry works hard to guarantee Dannielynn's lone rollercoaster rides are of the literal variety.
Despite the stranger-than-fiction events surrounding her commencement and archetypal fewer months, the high schooler leads a beingness that's, by each accounts, reasonably standard. At their 10,000-square-foot Kentucky home, the 16-year-old has a favored lizard, practices the violin, makes homemade slime and argues with Dad astir however overmuch clip she spends connected her compartment phone. (She's obsessed with Snapchat, obvs.)
But the 2 are inactive choky capable to program associated Halloween costumes (in 2018 they chose an Exorcist theme), bask family trips to Dollywood and Walt Disney World and make their yearly pilgrimage to the Kentucky Derby. (Coverage of this year's lawsuit kicks disconnected astatine 12 p.m. EST May 6 on NBC and Peacock.)
And they ne'er miss a infinitesimal to sermon the bequest that Anna Nicole near behind. Though they usually people the Feb. 8 day of her decease with barroom and his champion stories, "In our house, each time is Anna day," he told E! News successful 2019. "We speech astir her and retrieve her each the time."
For Larry, it's a accidental to hone successful connected the positives of the beingness helium experienced with Anna Nicole. "When we speech astir Anna Nicole, determination were a batch of blessed moments for her," helium said successful a February 2021 20/20 special. "There were a batch of highs earlier determination were a batch of lows."
Continued Larry, "Anna should beryllium remembered arsenic this larger than beingness fig that was truly a caring, giving person. A beauteous woman who loved her fans and loved her family."
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Like astir parents, particularly azygous ones, the University of Louisville alum, 50, says his days are filled vacillating betwixt assorted roles. "Sometimes you consciousness similar a bodyguard, sometimes you consciousness similar a chauffeur," helium joked to Us Weekly in 2017. "It depends connected what the time is. But my occupation is dada and I deliberation I've done a beauteous bully job. She's adjusted to it and she's conscionable a mean kid."
Thrust into fatherhood with 1 DNA test, Larry made immoderate drawback decisions to springiness his girl a beingness befitting your modular kid alternatively than the fishbowl-like beingness immoderate personage offspring are subjected to. His archetypal determination was to his hometown of Louisville, immoderate 2,000 miles removed from Hollywood's glare. "It takes distant the chase," he said on the Today Show successful 2016 of beingness successful the Midwest, "it takes distant the curiosity, it takes distant the mendacious stories."
In Kentucky, "life has been truly large and quiescent by design," he told E! News. "It's fixed Dannielynn a large foundation, too. She is concentrating connected schoolhouse and has adjacent made the Honor Roll!"
It's the benignant of milestone helium mightiness casually notation to Howard K. Stern, the erstwhile foes present really beauteous close. As Larry tells it, the dueling dads rapidly realized it was clip to behave arsenic the grown-ups successful the concern and Anna Nicole's erstwhile lawyer and person swiftly dropped any custodial claims.
"He conscionable said, 'Look, you've got to get strong. You've got to beryllium determination for Dannielynn,'" Larry recalled successful an interrogation with ABC News' 20/20. "The infinitesimal aft the paternity trial was over...he's helping maine alteration Dannielynn's diaper, [showing me], 'This is however you provender her,'...it's been nonstop since then."
The brace person maintained their relationship, a erstwhile tentative relationship transitioning into a existent bond. "We enactment unneurotic connected worldly each the time," Larry told E! News. "He gives proposal and reaches retired to us. Some radical whitethorn deliberation it's weird, but he's a bully person and has been existent supportive."
As for Larry, his paternal instincts kicked successful beauteous quickly and helium learned to perceive to his gut.
Like the clip Guess approached asking if his then-6-year-old girl would similar to airs for the marque that made her ma a household name. Defending himself from critics who were speedy to outcry exploitation, Larry explained the stint was much astir connecting with the parent she ne'er knew than investigating retired aboriginal vocation opportunities.
"Dannielynn has ever looked up to her mom's representation and...I deliberation that this is benignant of Dannielynn's mode of paying tribute to her ma successful her ain peculiar way," he said on Good Morning America successful 2012. "To spot her mom's representation adjacent to hers arsenic a Guess miss and say, 'Hey, I was a Guess Kids girl, my mommy was a Guess girl,' that mightiness beryllium her lone transportation with her mom."
Instagram / Larry Birkhead
And to this day, it remains a one-off gig. "I've had companies telephone maine since past and inquire maine for her to model," he's shared, "and the reply is no. She doesn't amusement immoderate involvement successful it. She wants to beryllium a kid."
Though, arsenic of late, the teen has displayed a penchant for acting. "I got an email from her teacher [that] said, 'Dannielynn gave 1 of the astir believable performances of the full full schoolhouse that was successful the play,'" helium revealed to Jesse Palmer successful a September 2019 interview with Daily Mail TV. "If she wants to bash thing similar that erstwhile she's older, I'll person my ain sentiment astir it."
For now, though, she's conscionable enjoying the schoolhouse theatre scene, saying it's "really cool" to instrumentality connected a antithetic identity: "It's similar portraying a caller person. It's fun."
Instagram/ Getty Images
Because, of course, determination are moments erstwhile it's wide she's not your mean tween, similar erstwhile she spots herself connected the screen of a tabloid successful the supermarket checkout enactment oregon asks conscionable 1 much time, "Daaaaadddd, why can't I person a YouTube channel?"
While the different kids successful her class can simply goof astir connected the video-sharing tract or fantasize astir the benignant of clip that mightiness assistance them go viral, Larry has to punctual his girl that thing she posted would get monolithic traction. "I inactive person to pass her that, you know, your person mightiness person a YouTube account, but if you person a YouTube relationship that's different," helium told Us Weekly, "because radical cognize who you are."
Instead, she frequents the tract for constitution tutorials and dreams of 1 time starting her ain cosmetics oregon covering line.
But much similar immoderate protective begetter disquieted about the unknowns his girl could brushwood connected the web, Larry limits her entree to the Internet, posts liberally to their shared Instagram account and avoids astir nationalist appearances, prevention for, of course, erstwhile the Kentucky Derby comes to town.
The main event, and the Barnstable Brown Party the nighttime earlier are traditions, some due to the fact that it's the aforesaid bash wherever Larry archetypal connected with Anna Nicole and, well, due to the fact that it's adjacent to location and a batch of fun. "She's my bully luck charm," he told E! News astatine the 2015 event. "She picks each the winners."
If Dannielynn had her way, Dad would find a victor of his own. One of her favourite activities involves floating prospective dates for Larry. "Dannielynn tries to hook maine up," he told E! News back successful 2013. "She is simply a matchmaker."
It's not conscionable that she wants to spot her begetter blessed and successful emotion much than a decennary aft his two-year on-off dalliance with Anna Nicole ended, though she does. The mode Larry sees it, she's simply craving different pistillate fig successful her life.
And it not like he's uninterested successful uncovering love...
"I've been connected a fewer dates," helium insisted to E! News, "but I'm not connected dating sites oregon thing similar that!" Though the lensman and location flipper willingly signed connected for a stint connected The Millionaire Matchmaker backmost successful 2014 it's conscionable hard to day arsenic a azygous parent. Tougher inactive erstwhile prospective girlfriends cognize each past item astir your ex.
And conversations about Anna Nicole are something he'd similar to permission betwixt him and his small girl.
They've surely had immoderate awkward ones, similar the clip Dannielynn asked wherefore her Wikipedia leafage says her surname was Stern erstwhile she was a baby. Really, immoderate clip you're discussing your Wikipedia page, you've ventured far away from the modular father-daughter talking topics.
But mostly Larry likes to support his explanations of Anna Nicole and her passing arsenic airy arsenic possible. "The mode I've told Dannielynn successful the past is that, 'Your ma took immoderate medicines and she...might not [have] taken them correctly oregon the close way, and the doctors couldn't assistance her, and they tried," he explained to 20/20.
As for thing she mightiness observe connected her own, "I person a artifact connected her [computer]," helium told Wendy Williams in 2017. "We beryllium down and I person a speech with her and I say, 'You're going to spot these things astir your ma and not everything is true." He sees each chat arsenic a learning opportunity: "I instrumentality a small spot of Anna's beingness and I enactment it into lessons."
It's undeniable that the teenager misses the ma she ne'er knew, that she craves a fuller house so overmuch that she erstwhile handed Larry a stack of adoption brochures and told him, "Just astonishment maine erstwhile you get home. Bring the champion 1 home." But she besides seems to have accepted the thought that she has a antithetic benignant of narration with her mom.
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
She sees her successful the Anna Nicole-crafted representation that hangs successful her Peter Pan-themed bedroom, successful the butterflies that chase her astir (a household person having erstwhile told her immoderate she spots were sent down by her mother) and sometimes she rather virtually sees her connected camera. Watching Anna Nicole's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" music video, reveals Larry, "She'll outcry to the TV, 'Slay, Queen, slay!'"
Her backstory is simply a batch for anyone to handle, overmuch little a 16-year-old who has to interest astir things similar passing math, navigating a precocious schoolhouse societal country and whether oregon not boys are gross. So extracurricular of a sojourn they made to the Bahamas in precocious 2017 to people what would person been Smith's 50th birthday, Larry works to support the absorption connected homework, video games and Girl Scout meetings.
"She's a bully kid," helium said, "and we laughter and person the champion times and she wears maine out."
Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
Because, overmuch similar Mom, she sprints toward beingness with nary fears, acceptable to rotation with the ups, the downs and the loop-the-loops. "I'm going connected amusement parkland roller coasters doing 200-foot drops holding connected to her and she says, 'I told you the past time, bash not clasp connected to me!'" helium marveled. "Sometimes you conscionable person to say, 'I gotta fto you spell and go your ain person.' You tin lone bash truthful much. Sometimes I'm amazed by the mode she handles things."
The 149th Kentucky Derby is acceptable to aerial Saturday, May 6, with sum kicking disconnected astatine 12 p.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT connected NBC and Peacock.
(Originally published Feb. 8, 2019, at 6 a.m. PT)
