WARNING: CONTAINS REFERENCES TO SEXUAL ASSAULT AND RAPE
Anna Nicole Smith claimed her long lost dad tried to have sex with her when they met for the first time, with friends and family speaking about their encounter in a brand new Netflix documentary. Watch the trailer here:
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me is a new feature-length documentary from director Ursula Macfarlane and producer Alexandra Lacey.
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Billed as an ‘unflinching and humanizing examination of the life, death, and secrets’ of Vickie Lynn Hogan - better known as model and actor Anna Nicole Smith - the film was released on Netflix today (Tuesday 16 May).
A synopsis says: “From her first appearance in Playboy in 1992, Anna Nicole’s dizzying ascent was the very essence of the American dream, brought to a tragic halt with her untimely passing in 2007.
“With access to never-before-seen footage, home movies, and interviews with key figures who have not spoken out until now, this film reveals new insights into the story of the quintessential blonde bombshell hardly anyone really knew.”
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In the documentary, we see how Smith - who died in 2007 at the age of just 37 - sought a private investigator to find her biological father, Donald Hogan, having been raised in a small town in Texas by her mother and step-father.
Her friend Missy Byrum, who knew Smith as ‘Nicky’, explains: “Nicky had never known her biological father, and she believed it was because her mother was just an impossible tyrant who didn’t want her to have her father around.
“So Nicky had built a vision in her head of who this man was, and she just knew he had to be out there looking for her like she was looking for him.”
Smith’s half-brother Donnie recalls how a private investigator called their home in Oakhurst, Texas, one day, asking if his dad wanted to talk to his daughter.
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She then flew her father and brother out to California to meet her, withholding a few details about exactly who she was, including her surname.
Archive footage shows Smith saying she was ‘shaking’ and ‘very emotional’ when she first made contact with her dad for the first time in 24 years.
“He said he waited for this day for years and years and years,” she says to the camera.
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“And he said there wasn’t one night he would go to sleep, and I wasn’t in his prayers.”
Donnie admits he had no idea who she was at the time, or what he was ‘walking into’.
The three met at the airport before hanging out in a limousine together along with Smith’s friend Missy, later visiting Disneyland and the Playboy Mansion.
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“I’m a Guess model, I’m also Playmate of the Year this year,” the star told her stunned, estranged family members.
But while the family reunion was initially a happy one, Smith never actually saw her dad again.
“At the beginning it was great,” Donnie says.
“She was excited. We were excited. You could tell she wanted a father figure in her life.”
Her brother said he began to grow concerned, and decided to tell her what their father was really like.
“I wanted Vicky to know the truth,” he continues.
“My father is not a type of guy you want to be alone with or feel safe [with]. You’re not gonna feel safe.
“I mean, he’s a monster.”
Donnie says he was about 16 when Donald told him he had raped his wife's sister.
“She was a child,” he adds.
“He’s very scary. I was always afraid of him.”
Donald previously pleaded guilty to the rape, and to that of another underage girl, spending just six months in jail.
Byrum then reveals that Smith actually told her Donald had assaulted her.
“Nicky came back from Los Angeles and I asked her about her father and her brother,” she says.
“And she said she didn’t want to talk about it.
“When we were alone on the plane, she told me that her father had tried to have sex with her.”
When told about the incident, Donnie says in shock: “My dad assaulted her? I mean that would be like him, but is it true? It couldn't be - I was there every step of the way.”
However, he adds: “But I wouldn’t put it past him. I guess I wasn’t there all the time, so it could be true.
Byrum says Smith was ‘just so, so disappointed’, and that it was ‘really sad’ to see.
“I know how happy she was when she met him,” her friend explains.
Watch Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me on Netflix now.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact the Rape Crisis England and Wales helpline on 0808 802 9999 between 12pm–2.30pm and 7pm– 9.30pm every day. Alternatively, you can contact Victim Support free on 08 08 16 89 111 available 24/7, every day of the year, including Christmas
Topics: TV And Film, Netflix, Documentaries, Celebrity
Jess Hardiman