January 1, 2009
Rita Cosby Uses 'Gay Is OK' Defense in Anna Nicole Smith Defamation Suit
David Foucher READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Journalist Rita Cosby is being sued for $60 million by Howard K. Stern for gay-sex allegations she made about him in her book "Blonde Ambition."
In the book, Cosby claimed the Stern had engaged in homosexual sex with Larry Birkhead on a tape that was viewed by Anna Nicole Smith, who died last February.
(Birkhead was later proved through a paternity test to be the father of Smith's daughter, Danielynn.)
Cosby is now claiming as part of her defense that "the fact that Howard and Larry videotaped a sexual encounter does not make the acts any more negative."
Cosby goes further, likening the alleged tape to other celebrity sex tapes that became public, with little adverse affect to said stars.
"In recent history, numerous stars had sex videotapes leaked to the Internet, including Pamela Anderson, Paris Hilton, Rob Lowe and others," her statement reads. "A possible sex videotape was hardly something that would raise an eyebrow in the milieu of Anna and Howard's life."
Cosby's declaration was filed on December 19 in U.S. District Court as part of her motion to dismiss Stern's lawsuit.
David Foucher is the CEO of the EDGE Media Network and Pride Labs LLC, is a member of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalist Association, and is accredited with the Online Society of Film Critics. David lives with his daughter in Dedham MA.
