Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me is a Netflix documentary slated for release on May 16, but there’s something, or rather someone, missing from the documentary: Dannielynn Birkhead.
Dannielynn is the spitting image of her late mother and has even followed in her mom’s modeling footsteps as well.
Dannielynn was also the center of a paternity scandal, as Anna Nicole had listed Howard K. Stern as Dannielynn’s father on the birth certificate.
After Anna Nicole’s death in February 2007, her ex, Larry Birkhead, went to court and was proven to be Dannielynn’s father via DNA.
Though the two tend to stay out of the spotlight, they are known for certain things, like attending the Kentucky Derby in Louisville regularly.
However, there is more to Dannielynn than meets the eye, though she does live a rather private life.
Dannielynn Birkhead’s early life
Dannielynn was born on September 7, 2006, and will turn 17 later this year. Only days after her birth, Dannielynn’s half-brother Daniel passed away from an overdose.
Months later, Anna Nicole passed in a similar circumstance.
Despite the challenges that came very early on in her life, Larry has done his best to tell Dannielynn who her mom and brother were in the best way he could.
“We visit [Anna Nicole’s grave], and I tell Dannielynn stories about her mom. I don’t sugarcoat it. I say there are some things that your mom did, and you know I try to make her learn from it,” Larry told Entertainment Tonight in 2015. “My goal was always to keep Daniel and Anna in her mind and let her know who they were without overdoing it.”
Dannielynn Birkhead’s modeling and hobbies
Following some of the same footsteps of her mother, Dannielynn secured her first modeling gig in 2013 for a Guess Kids campaign, with mother Anna Nicole having been the face of Guess in the ’90s.
However, despite her stint in modeling, she tries to live a normal life. Larry revealed that she goes to school and is even a Girl Scout, and he tries to give her the most normal life he can.
Together, the two like to attend events, go to Walt Disney World, and watch movies. In her spare time, Dannielynn even enjoys the guitar.
While she is enjoying her own life, Dannielynn and Larry also work to keep Anna Nicole’s image alive the way that they knew her.
Dannielynn and Larry Birkhead won’t be in the new Anna Nicole Smith documentary
Larry revealed to the New York Post that he and Dannielynn would not be in the Netflix documentary but instead are working on their own project to honor Anna Nicole.
They want to be “sure that the people involved are truly connected with Anna and that we have a certain level of control over the way the story is told.”
They did speak to the production crew, but ultimately decided against joining up with Netflix based on who was going to be involved.
“I had to make that decision after seeing production after production following the same format and using the same people saying they were ‘friends’ with Anna. It’s important for me, and I owe it to my daughter Dannielynn that only credible people are involved in Anna’s story, and so I decided one way to get that assurance is to do our own project,” Larry revealed.
He also noted that his project with Dannielynn will use materials from their own archives that Anna Nicole had, such as her personal diaries and journals that tell her entire life story before she was even Anna Nicole.
Though there is no production timeline for Larry and Dannielynn’s project, it will include a lot of home videos and personal insights from the late star.
Documentaries and biopics about Anna Nicole seem to be a recurring sensitive subject for Larry, who has spoken out against other projects about the model in the past.
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me premieres on Netflix on May 16.