Larry Birkhead‘s former attorney Debra Opri filed a lawsuit against him on Monday, Sept. 24, accusing Birkhead of falsely claiming in a CNN interview with Larry King that she was a source for Rita Cosby‘s book Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith’s Death.
In the book, Cosby supposes that Birkhead and Anna Nicole Smith‘s former lover and lawyer, Howard K. Stern, were in cahoots to manipulate the media and profit for Smith’s death.
Opri denies providing information to Cosby, and in her lawsuit is claiming defamation, fraud, among other allegations. She is seeking damages, including $200,000 she spent on a crisis management firm to salvage her career.
Birkhead’s attorney, Michael Trope, said Tuesday he hadn’t seen the lawsuit, but added, “What Larry (Birkhead) said about her on the Larry King show is true.”
Birkhead and Opri are also fighting in a separate court battle, regarding legal bills from the Smith paternity case.
