Larry Birkhead is trying to give his daughter, Dannielynn, the most “normal” childhood possible after the death of her mother, Anna Nicole Smith, nine years ago.
In a clip from an upcoming episode of “The Steve Harvey Show” airing Tuesday, Birkhead talks about raising his daughter without Smith and reveals just how much Dannielynn knows about her late mother.
“She knows that her mom was famous and that people want to know about her,” Birkhead said. “So, you know, it’s different for her, my daughter, because it’s nothing for her to go past and see a story in the checkout stands on the cover of magazines of her mom or herself or us or whatever. And it’s a little different than your normal situation, but we make it ― I make it ― as normal as I can.”
Smith gave birth to Dannielynn on Sept. 7, 2007, just three days before her 20-year-old son Daniel died of an accidental drug overdose.
Tragically, the model would suffer a similar fate. Smith died from a prescription drug overdose only five months later.
Comedian Margaret Cho recently opened up about her friend’s death in an April interview with Maria Menounos. “I think that her grief was overwhelming,” Cho said. “Her son had died, and her son was just so precious to her.”
The comedian added that Smith’s death was probably a result of postpartum depression and guilt stemming from her son’s overdose.
“They both had an issue with prescription painkillers and different drugs like that,” Cho said. “I don’t know if there’s anybody that’s necessarily at fault. Of course, we’re all guilty. Anybody that’s close to her is guilty, if anyone.”