From 'The Insider'-
"Sources tell "The Insider" that
Larry Birkhead filed a paternity and custody suit Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court concerning Anna Nicole Smith's baby daughter, Dannielynn Hope. Both Birkhead and Anna Nicole's lawyer, Howard K Stern, claim to have fathered the baby girl.
Birkhead's publicist released a statement yesterday saying that he hired celeb attorney Debra Opri(who has represented James Brown) and that Anna Nicole was served with the papers yesterday.
The statement says that Birkhead is asking the court to order: paternity testing, that the baby be brought back to California and drug testing on both Anna Nicole and Dannielynn. Birkhead is asking for custody pending results of the drug tests. The statement also alleges that Anna Nicole purposefully left the country to deny Birkhead of his parental rights.
Moreover, according to the statement, Birkhead "is concerned for the health and safety of the child based upon drug issues and manipulation by a third party for purposes contrary to the interests of the child."
The statement goes on to say that Birkhead is taking these actions because, "He is responding to the 'circus-like' atmosphere with Howard K. Stern as ring leader this past week wherein serious and false allegations that Stern is the father were made and many defamatory remarks about Mr. Birkhead needed to be addressed."
Both Birkhead and Stern have claimed in the past week that they fathered the model's infant daughter, who was born three days before the death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel.
Our "Insider" correspondent, Rick Joyce, is in the Bahamas working the story and said he talked to Howard, who was unaware any paperwork had been filed.
"Despite the intense interest to the general public on this story, he is oblivious to everything but his new commitment to Anna Nicole, their new baby and grieving Daniel," Rick reports.
Last Thursday, Anna Nicole and Howard were united in a commitment ceremony at sea. Contrary to reports that had surfaced earlier, they were not married, and no marriage certificate was issued.
A statement from Anna Nicole's rep said that they escaped the press hubbub surrounding her compound Thursday morning with Anna Nicole's baby girl, and boarded a catamaran sailboat, on which the ceremony occurred.
The statement read, "The event was intended to be totally private between two adults deeply in love with each other and needing simple reassurances that they could count on one another through life's ups and downs. The outing was never expected to be shared with anyone other than Howard, Anna, Dannielynn Hope and a few close friends and family."
It was just two days after Anna's longtime lawyer declared on "Larry KingLive" that he is Dannielynn's father, and that he is in a relationship with the grieving mother, although no DNA test has yet been performed to determine paternity.
Photographer Birkhead, who also says he was romantically involved with the actress for two years, said that was laughable.
"You call it a bombshell, I call it comedy," he told our own Lara Spencer. "The whole time I was with Anna, [Howard] was well aware of our relationship and our intimacy. In fact, we would be in her room and he would be like Kato Kaelin on the couch. It was not that kind of relationship, and it was definitely not a love triangle."
Howard has also said that he and Anna Nicole have been romantically involved, adding, "I've loved her for quite some time." He told the CNN host that they've kept silent about their romance until now due to their professional relationship as lawyer and client. He said he knows he is the father due to the timing of Dannielynn's birth, and he also said that he and Anna Nicole intend to marry.
That was news to Birkhead, who claimed Anna asked him to marry her!
"I said no because we weren't getting along," he told Lara. "She wanted it for the wrong reason. She wanted it because she was pregnant and she was having a baby and, in her mind, I truly believe that she wanted a family. But I told her 'absolutely not.' I did get her a ring because she was adamant that she wanted a ring. If I was an opportunist, I could have said yes. That wasn't what I was about. I wanted this to all go down in the right way."
As for the other man who has also claimed paternity of Dannielynn, Howard said that Anna "never considered Birkhead her boyfriend" and claimed that it wasn't possible for him to be the father, due to the timing of the baby's birth. He said last week that if Birkhead were to request a paternity test (which he has now done), he'll agree to it "if legally compelled to do so."
In fact, Birkhead had a message for Howard: "If you think you're the father, come back to the states. Don't run to a different country and get residency for Anna. Don't try to put up all these walls and then make a claim. Let's put it to rest and roll up our sleeves, give blood, swab, whatever we have to do. Then we will know the truth for good."'
