Nicole Smith sued for unpaid bills
2002-10-30 13:44
New York - Anna Nicole Smith, a former Playboy Playmate and billionaire's wife who currently stars in a television series about her outlandish daily life, is being sued by a New York publicity company for millions of dollars in damages for allegedly not paying her bills.
Smith, the 34-year-old buxom model who has been in court repeatedly in recent years to get a part of the estate of her deceased husband, a billionaire oil tycoon, faces a lawsuit over about $155 000 in allegedly unpaid bills and legal fees.
The suit also seeks $25 million in damages from Smith and her lawyer, Howard Stern.
The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court on Monday, claims Smith retained David Granoff Public Relations through an oral contract from April 2000 until late September.
During that time, Granoff claims he helped Smith secure her show with E! Entertainment as well as photo spreads in magazines including Vanity Fair and Cuervo Gold commercials in Latin America.
Smith's attorney, who said he has not been served the court papers, said Granoff "hasn't been her publicist for some time".
The suit accuses Stern of coercing Smith to cut off contact with Granoff.
The Anna Nicole Show, which began in August, tracks the shenanigans of Smith and a kooky coterie of family, associates and Stern, who serves as both lawyer and confidant. Scenes include everything from her vomiting at a restaurant after an eating contest to her dog getting sexual with a toy puppet.
The show scored the highest-ever rating for the debut of a reality programme on cable television, and E! Entertainment is bringing back the show for another season in 2003.
Smith, who at age 26 married Texas oil baron J. Howard Marshall II 14 months before his death at age 89, recently lost a lawsuit in Houston to Marshall's stepson seeking part of the estate, estimated $1.6 billion.
A federal court in California awarded Smith $88.5 million from the estate, but that ruling is under appeal.