NEW YORK, Sept. 4 Tabloid stars Larry Birkhead and Howard K. Stern denounced a new U.S. book that claimed they were once lovers.
Anna Nicole Smith's former boyfriends have been gossip fodder for the past year, thanks to the model's death and a subsequent paternity battle over her infant daughter, Dannielynn.
But in her new book, "Blonde Ambition," former MSNBC journalist Rita Cosby quoted singer/actress Jackie Hatten as saying she knows first-hand Birkhead and Stern were also romantically involved with each other, a claim both men denied.
"Jackie Hatten has never met me and she hasn't even seen Anna since 2001. She isn't a credible source," Birkhead told the New York Daily News. "This book is coming from the losers club because they all have axes to grind."
Stern's lawyer, Lin Wood, has warned Cosby in writing, "Hatten is not a credible or reliable source."
Wood later told The News Cosby's book has taken Smith coverage "to a disgusting new low for which (Cosby) will be held legally accountable."
TMZ said a scheduled "Today" interview with Cosby was canceled after Wood threatened to sue the show over any false items it broadcast.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
