Nicole Richie Charged Friday For Past DUI

Reality TV star Nicole Richie was charged on Friday with driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, two months after police arrested her and said she was driving the wrong way on a Los Angeles freeway.

The 25-year-old star of "The Simple Life" and daughter of singer Lionel Richie was scheduled for an arraignment on Wednesday on the misdemeanor charge. Richie will not have to attend the hearing.

Police arrested Richie on December 11 when her car was found blocking a freeway car pool lane and she failed a sobriety test. Police said Richie told them she had smoked marijuana and taken the painkiller Vicodin.

Although Richie's car was pointed in the right direction when police found her, her black sports utility vehicle matched the description of an SUV seen entering the freeway against traffic nearby, police said.

The charge said she was under the influence of "an alcoholic beverage and a drug" that was not specified. It also said Richie had a prior DUI conviction in 2003.

See December's Archive For More Info.

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Wrong Way Richie?
Associated Press - (APTN)
Dec. 12, 2006. 11:53 AM EST

Moments before Nicole Richie was arrested and accused of driving under the influence, several motorists called 911 to report a car driving the wrong way down the same California highway. (Dec. 12)

Anna Nicole Smith Former Playboy Centerfold Dies

Anna Nicole Smith Playboy centerfold, jeans model, bride of an octogenarian oil tycoon, reality-show subject, tragic mother, died Thursday after collapsing at a hotel in Hollywood Florida. She was 39.

She collapsed while staying at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino and was rushed to a hospital. The cause of death was under investigation and an autopsy would be done on Friday.

Just five months ago, Smith's 20-year-old son, Daniel, died suddenly in the Bahamas in what was believed to be a drug-related death.

Police said a private nurse called 911 after finding Smith unresponsive in her sixth-floor room at the hotel, which is on an Indian reservation. He said Smith's bodyguard administered CPR, but she was declared dead at a hospital.

Through the '90s and into the new century, Smith was famous for being famous, a pop-culture punchline because of her up-and-down weight, her Marilyn Monroe looks, her exaggerated curves, her little-girl voice, her ditzy-blonde persona, and her over-the-top revealing outfits and big Boobs.

Recently, she lost a reported 69 pounds and became a spokeswoman for TrimSpa, a weight-loss supplement, which has since been in a law suite over false advertising.
On her reality show and other recent TV appearances, her speech was often slurred and she seemed out of it. Some critics said she seemed drugged-out, and myself could see the affect of drugs in her actions.

"Undoubtedly it will be found at the end of the day that drugs featured in her death as they did in the death of poor Daniel," said a former attorney for Smith in the Bahamas, Michael Scott.
Another former Smith attorney, Lenard Leeds, told the celebrity gossip Web site TMZ that Smith "always had problems with her weight going up and down, and there's no question she used alcohol." Leeds said it was no secret that "she had a very troubled life" and had "so many, many problems."

Smith attorney Ron Rale told The Associated Press that he had talked to her on Tuesday or Wednesday, and she had flu symptoms and a fever and was still grieving over her son.
"Poor Anna Nicole," he said. "She's been the underdog. She's been besieged - and she's been trying her best and nobody should have to endure what she's endured."

The Texas-born Smith was a topless dancer at strip club before she entered her photos in a search contest and made the cover of Playboy magazine in 1992. She became Playboy's playmate of the year in 1993. She was also signed to a contract with Guess jeans, appearing in TV commercials, billboards and magazine ads.

In 1994, she married 89-year-old oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, owner of Great Northern Oil Co. In 1992, Forbes magazine estimated his wealth at $550 million.
In a 2005 interview with ABC, Smith recalled meeting Marshall at what she called a "gentleman's club' in Houston. "He had no will to live and I went over to see him," she said. "He got a little twinkle in his eyes, and he asked me to dance for him. And I did."

Marshall died in 1995 at age 90, setting off a feud with Smith's former stepson, E. Pierce Marshall, over his estate. A federal court in California awarded Smith $474 million. That was later overturned. But in May, the U.S. Supreme Court revived her case, ruling that she deserved another day in court.

The stepson died June 20 at age 67. But the family said the court fight would continue.

Smith starred in her own reality TV series, "The Anna Nicole Show," in 2002-04. Cameras followed her around as she sparred with her lawyer, hung out with her personal assistant and interior decorator, and cooed at her poodle, Sugar Pie. She also appeared in movies, performing a bit part in "The Hudsucker Proxy" in 1994.

After news came of Smith's death, G. Eric Brunstad Jr., the lawyer who represented Marshall, said in a statement: "We're very shocked by the news and extend the deepest condolences to her family."

In a statement, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner said: "I am very saddened to learn about Anna Nicole's passing. She was a dear friend who meant a great deal to the Playboy family and to me personally."

Smith's son died Sept. 10 in his mother's hospital room in the Bahamas, just days after she gave birth to a daughter.

An American medical examiner hired by the family, Cyril Wecht, said he died accidentally of a combination of methadone and two antidepressants. Last month, a Bahamas magistrate scheduled a formal inquiry into the death for March 27.

"Back to reality," the paternity of Smith's now 5-month-old daughter remained a matter of dispute. The birth certificate lists Dannielynn's father as attorney Howard K. Stern, Smith's most recent companion. Smith's ex-boyfriend Larry Birkhead was waging a legal challenge, saying he was the father.

Debra Opri, the attorney who filed his paternity suit, said Birkhead "is devastated. He is inconsolable, and we are taking steps now to protect the DNA testing of the child. The child is our No. 1 priority."

Smith was born Vickie Lynn Hogan on Nov. 28, 1967, in Houston, one of six children. Her parents split up when she was a toddler, and she was raised by her mother, a deputy sheriff.
She dropped out after 11th grade after she was expelled for fighting, and worked as a waitress and then a cook at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken restaurant in Mexia.

She married 16-year-old fry cook Bill Smith in 1985, giving birth to Daniel before divorcing two years later.



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Media Circus Surrounding Anna Nicole Death

Heads Roll At Cartoon Network Over Boston Bomb Scare

Cartoon Network "guerrilla-marketing efforts" doesn't boost ratings for 'Aqua Teen Hunger Force'

So much for the notion that any publicity, even bad publicity is helpful.

Ratings hardly went up for the Cartoon Network show with the ad campaign that briefly paralyzed Boston.

Blinking electronic devices planted around Boston to promote "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" caused authorities, who were worried they might be bombs, to shut down bridges and highways Jan. 31.

The fallout over Cartoon Network's guerrilla-marketing efforts for "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" has reached new heights as the head of the network has resigned.

Jim Samples, executive vice president and general manager of Cartoon Network, a Turner Broadcasting network, said in an internal memo that he felt "compelled to step down, effective immediately, in recognition of the gravity of the situation that occurred under my watch." He said he hoped his decision would put "this chapter behind us."

Turner Broadcasting has agreed to pay the city of Boston $2 million as a penalty for its marketing stunt. The supposedly suspicious-looking devices were placed near highways and bridges and raised public fears of bombs. That caused an increase in police and security, effectively paralyzing parts of the city.

The marketing effort was to promote an upcoming theatrical film based on the program "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." It was put together by an outside agency, New York-based Interference. Other agency clients include Discovery Channel, HBO, Clorox, MTV, Godiva, GE and CNN.

Many cable networks produce similar guerrilla-marketing efforts to promote TV shows, but often alert city officials beforehand. While apologetic for the incident, Cartoon still says it has a business to run.

"We have a lot of shows and a lot of brands," said a TBS spokeswoman. "We are not going to stop aggressively marketing."

The marketing devices were also placed in nine other cities. Those city officials held conversations with Turner Broadcasting executives since the Boston incident on Jan. 31.


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Turner Broadcasting to Pay $2M for Boston Hoax