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from Us Weekly, September 2, 2002
by Ken Baker
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Cable-TV ratings monster The Anna Nicole Show is so outrageous, it has made Us forget about The Osbournes (for now, anyway). But is the former stripper and model's life too wacky to be true? Ms. Smith helps Us separate fact from fiction.
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THE CHARGE
Anna's almost always drunk or on drugs.
EVIDENCE
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In the first episode, she was a stumbling, slurring mess. But Smith, a recovering alcoholic, swears she has been "clean and sober" since a 1995 stint at the Betty Ford Clinic and "probably" only drinks once every six months (she "enjoy[s] a can of Bud"). Anna's defense: "I have this stupid, lazy Texas drawl, and if I am not paying attention, I sound weird." But an E! source offers another explanation: "She had just had a root canal and was on Vicodin."
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VERDICT
False -- most of the time
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THE CHARGE
Anna and her lawyer, Howard K. Stern, are secretly dating.
EVIDENCE
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Although they seem to be inseparable, both parties insist the seven-year friendship has never even made it to first base. "He wishes," Smith tells Us. "We are best friends. We are like brother and sister." Adds Stern, "We would kill each other."
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VERDICT
False
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THE CHARGE
She has had several boob jobs.
EVIDENCE
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Smith -- who declares, "I love my breasts" -- confesses that she has had implants put in and taken out numerous times, mostly to repair or reduce them. How many surgeries? "I don't know," says the (currently) 38-DD. "I lost count." A dozen? "No, not that many," she says, adding, "When you first get them, you want them bigger and bigger. I just snapped out of it one day and was like, What am I doing to myself?"
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VERDICT
True
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THE CHARGE
Anna is 27 years old.
EVIDENCE
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Although in May Smith told Larry King she was 27, the truth is she's 34. "I was just kidding," she says. "I was, like, Duh! But her really believed me."
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VERDICT
Larry, were you just being nice?
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THE CHARGE
E! executives are exploiting her dysfunctions to score high ratings.
EVIDENCE
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"I just spend the money they are giving me," she says. "If they are paying me, they can exploit me. As long as I get my paycheck."
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VERDICT
True
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THE CHARGE
Anna's 16-year-old son, Daniel, is horrified by the show.
EVIDENCE
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"Secretly, he likes it," Smith says. "He doesn't like being on TV, but when he is up there, he starts smiling. [But] he doesn't like the cameras."
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VERDICT
Kinda true?
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THE CHARGE
The former Playboy Playmate is embarrassed by her recent weight gain.
EVIDENCE
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"I'm not perfect; I don't think I'm fat, either," says the 5-foot-11 Smith. "I'm kind of in the middle. I think I'm normal."
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VERDICT
False
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THE CHARGE
It has been more than two years since she last had sex.
EVIDENCE
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"A couple years ago, I knew this guy who would just come over and have sex with me. But that was only for, like, three weeks. It has been so long. Yeah, it's hard," she says. Why so lonely? "I never go out, and I don't know anyone to take me out. So how do I go out? I can't just go out myself. I just stay at home, and you can't meet anyone at home." (FYI: She claims to have "a box full of vibrators.")
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VERDICT
True
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THE CHARGE
Anna is looking for a man.
EVIDENCE
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After planting a big, wet kiss on our Us writer, Smith described her ideal mate: "Someone funny who will be nice to me -- who's not going to be one of those pretty boys who is an ass. I don't date for looks at all, and I like to date older men. Not as old as my late husband, but older men who are established."
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VERDICT
True
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THE ANNA INDEX
6
Number of months she remained in bed depressed
pre-The Anna Nicole Show
$12,000
Cost of her new bed
7.5
Pounds that her dog, Sugar Pie, weighs
4
Number of tattoos
9
Number of root canals she has had in the past three months
$30,000
Amount of money she spent during a recent day of shopping
1
Number of times she says she has seen her lawyer naked
$89 million
Amount she was rewarded from the estate of
her late husband, J. Howard Marshall II
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