Larry Birkhead Slams Anna Nicole Smith Doctor Biopic

Larry Birkhead is speaking out against the upcoming biopic Trust Me, I’m a Doctor, which centers on Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, the physician implicated in Anna Nicole Smith’s 2007 death. The 53-year-old father of Smith’s daughter Dannielynn told Entertainment Tonight that he and his 19-year-old daughter “absolutely object” to the film being made. “We’re not involved in this production,” Birkhead stated. “We absolutely object to any of Anna Nicole’s, my life, my daughter’s life being used in a movie and being made characters out of by someone who was a doctor that supposedly people were supposed to trust”. He has also filed a complaint with the California Medical Board over Kapoor’s participation in the project.

The film is based on Kapoor’s 2017 memoir of the same name and stars Kal Penn as the doctor and Abbie Cornish as Smith. Following Smith’s fatal drug overdose at age 39, Kapoor was charged with conspiracy and excessive prescribing of opiates and sedatives to an addict but was acquitted on all counts in 2010. Birkhead, who dated Smith from 2003 to 2006 and shares Dannielynn with her, says he was promised by Kapoor and his representatives that “his days of doing press and being in the spotlight were over”. He claims to have warned them about “the harm and the emotional distress” the film could cause, particularly for Dannielynn.

Birkhead also expressed disappointment with Cornish’s portrayal of Smith, saying, “I recently saw the actress that is portraying Anna. I’m sure she’s probably a nice girl and a great actress but I don’t think she quite embodied Anna Nicole”. He noted that he has yet to see any actress truly capture “the spirit and the looks and the persona of Anna Nicole,” referencing previous portrayals in a Lifetime movie and a Law & Order episode. He emphasized that his criticism is not personal toward Cornish but stems from a place of protecting his daughter’s well-being and preserving Smith’s legacy.

Ultimately, Birkhead says he is letting the legal process with the California Medical Board “work itself out” as he continues to oppose the film’s release. Set to premiere on October 16, the movie remains a source of tension nearly two decades after Smith’s death, with Birkhead standing firm in his belief that the doctor’s continued pursuit of public attention is an act of betrayal against the family.