Sexualized, body-shamed and bullied by the press, Smith’s life was filled with moments that, if they occurred to a young female celebrity today, would be a scandal. Smith’s treatment is being debated on TikTok after a video resurfaced from a 2002 interview.
Howard Stern tried to weigh Anna Nicole Smith on his radio show.
In a recent TikTok showing her appearance on the “Howard Stern Show,” Smith is berated by Stern when she refuses to get on a scale to show him her weight. RELATED: Khloe Kardashian Reveals What Kris Jenner Said About Her At Age 9 That Made Her Want A Nose Job “The way you dress and stuff, I don’t think you’re aware that you’re a heavy-set woman,” Stern says in the clip. “I know I’m a big woman — so what?” Smith replies. Stern then asks if Smith could get on a scale so they could have an “over-under” guess on if he had properly guessed her weight. Smith is clearly uncomfortable with the invasive request. “No… I’m not going to get on a scale for you to weigh me,” she says with a quiet tone in her voice. She also points out the absurdity of the request, saying the only reason he wants her on the scale is to humiliate her. RELATED: Selena Gomez Accused Justin Bieber Of Cheating On Her ‘Multiple Times’ One of Stern’s co-hosts, John, starts to berate her, almost yelling at her to “just get on the scale” and that “we’ve all been on the scale.” However, another co-host named Benji stands up for Smith. “She doesn’t want to do it, John, just cut it out,” Benji says, yelling at the two men.
Anna Nicole Smith was often subjected to this kind of mistreatment.
It’s easy to recognize now how Smith was picked on by the media — but this was normalized in the early 2000s. Starting off as a Playboy magazine model, Smith was known for her second marriage to billionaire J. Howard Marshall. He was 89 years old when the then-26-year-old tied the knot. The media speculated constantly that the two were only married so Smith could get his money. “I loved him very much,” Smith had once told Larry King in 2002. “I wasn’t physically like ‘oh my God, you hot hot body,’ it was just — I loved him for what he did for me and my son. I never had love like that before,” Smith went on to say. After Marshall’s death, Smith was thrown into the spotlight due to the ongoing lawsuit battle for Marshall’s estate. RELATED: 7 Strict Rules Katy Perry & Orlando Bloom Make Each Other Follow In Their Relationship Although Smith wasn’t in the will explicitly, Smith claimed that Marshall had verbally promised half of his estate. This led to more fire from the media that Smith was only with Marshall for his money. Smith was then picked apart for gaining weight after Marshall’s death. Outlets would begin to say Smith was letting herself go and would speculate how big she was getting. Behind the scenes, Smith battled drug abuse and was prescribed medications to help her deal with her addiction — which had some side effects of weight gain. Many believe Smith is just another example of how Hollywood and the media have failed the women of its time. RELATED: Inside Marilyn Monroe’s Troubled Mom’s Attempt To Kidnap Her & Why Their Relationship Was So Strained Victoria Soliz is a writer with YourTango who covers news and entertainment content. Her work explores pop culture trends, film and TV, and celebrity news.
