How Anna Nicole Smith Orchestrated the Media Coverage on Her Death

Think I'm being conspiratorial or cute? How did she manage it?

It's not like the fable spinning, folk hero that Elvis became - hiding out in some truck stop in Nashville waiting to make a shocking reappearance. Anna's not somehow communicating from the other side with hordes of media outlets who have now covered her passing more than Ronald Reagan or Gerald Ford's combined. How exactly does one get more media scrutiny than two deceased United States President's combined? Simple: Interview deals when she was alive.

Do you really think she gave it away for free?

Despite cries of frustration from her outraged fans on the circus like atmosphere that's developed, Anna Nicole Smith was paid for interviews that Entertainment Tonight conducted with her concerning the paternity dispute with Larry Birkhead over her infant child. Facing the camera with tear soaked eyes, Anna would rail against Larry Birkhead, or the "media smothering her" and, then scream in rage about her supposedly abusive mother, Virgie Arthur.

Howard K. Stern, the maybe father of Anna's baby, the almost husband, the current keeper of Anna's image, supposedly cut a deal with showbiz titan Entertainment Tonight for exclusive coverage of the funeral. Carlos Diaz, Extra correspondent on tonight's Larry King said when he tried to get footage of the funeral, someone stopped him and said, "Entertainment Tonight has made a sizable contribution to this church." It certainly appears TV shows will still pay for the privilege of covering Anna Nicole Smith - either living or deceased.

As Anna's mother, friends, near husbands, father of her deceased son and assorted human bric a brac, dispute parental rights, burial rights, inheritance rights, and a host of rights we can't even imagine now - keep this in mind. This is no accident. The media is merely part of the equation.

Anna Nicole Smith in courting the media orchestrated this.