Anna Nicole Smith’s Son Dies, Daughter Is Born

Anna Nicole Smith gave birth to a baby girl last Wednesday. Yesterday morning, her 20-year-old son, Daniel, died.

Ugh. I didn’t even realize she had a son.

UPDATE: Anderson believes I am being unsympathetic here. I don’t mean to be. The “Ugh” is simply an expression of the horror of the situation.

The rest is just a confession that, while I’m been aware of Anna Nicole Smith’s celebrity since she appeared on the scene in the early 1990s, I had no clue that she had a son. That her much older husband died and she’s been fighting to get what he left her (and I think is rightfully hers) since, yes. That she’s been on reality shows and the object of public ridicule, yes. But I know next to nothing about Anna Nichole Smith, the person.

My Gone Hollywood chief writer, Allie, at the link, writes, “Our hearts go out to Anna Nicole, during this most difficult time. A life cut short is always difficult, but even moreso when it’s your own child.” Quite right. It’s a tragic situation and the juxtaposition of the death of a grown son and the birth of a new baby in the span of three days is simply surreal.

“Ugh” sums it up pretty well, I think.

FILED UNDER: Obituaries, Popular Culture,
James Joyner
About James Joyner
James Joyner is Professor and Department Head of Security Studies at Marine Corps University's Command and Staff College. He's a former Army officer and Desert Storm veteran. Views expressed here are his own. Follow James on Twitter @DrJJoyner.

Comments

  1. Anderson says:

    Yesterday morning, her 20-year-old son, Daniel, died.

    Ugh. I didn’t even realize she had a son.

    That has to rank pretty high on the list of Most Unsympathetic Remarks, Ever.

  2. Anderson says:

    “Ugh” sums it up pretty well, I think. \

    Well, thanks for the explanation, but that’s an awful lot of weight to put on the same monosyllable we use when we see a roach in the sink.

  3. LJD says:

    Except some of ‘Us’ don’t have any roaches, in our sinks or elsewhere…

  4. denise says:

    I’m wondering if this had something to do with his death:
    WASHINGTON – Ritualistic use of toxic mercury by followers of Voodoo and other religions is dangerous but regulating it could drive the practice underground and possibly violate U.S. guarantees of freedom of religion, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday.

    Very high exposures to mercury vapor in the air can cause acute poisoning. Symptoms usually begin with cough, chest tightness, trouble breathing and upset stomach. This may go on to pneumonia, which can be fatal.

  5. denise says:

    Could he have been poisoned by voodoo practitioners?
    A…trick in full play these days comes from voodoo. Voodoo is in essence the control and manipulation of people by means of elemental mercury poisoning.”

    “The ore of mercury is used in many of the ceremonies and is prescribed by the witchdoctor for hanging around the neck in a sack as an amulet, placing around the persons environment in the home or car, and even ingesting it or soaking in a bath with it, which is the same thing as eating it. Mercury outgases in all of these things and is taken in through the lungs as well.”
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14606749/

  6. denise says:

    Maybe voodoo practitioners were trying to get money out of him and overdosed him.

    EPA: Quit using mercury in your Voodoo rituals
    Despite health hazards, playing with poison seen as religious freedom

    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14606749/