Ashton Steals From The Dead!
Filed under: TV News > Larry Birkhead > Anna Nicole Smith > Ashton Kutcher
The dramz continues!
For those few that watched the premier of E!'s new Ashton Kutcher-produced Pop Fiction this weekend, guess what??? Turns out the concept of the show came from Anna Nicole Smith….THREE years ago!!!
The show was to be called Celebrities Strike Back, and it was pitched by Anna and her former attorney/manager/"lover" Howard K. Stern.
Seems like a lawsuit is in the happenings!
Pop Fiction seems almost identical to the treatment that Anna registered with the Writers Guild back in 2004.
Anna and Howard even pitched the show and sent the treatment to E! president Ted Harbert along with two top execs at E!.
The treatment states, "…what happens if Anna Nicole Smith and other celebrities turn the tables and capitalize off of the overzealous media? What if the next big supposed scandal is not a scandal at all? What if everything is staged, but the media (and the public) don't know it? Anna Nicole and other celebrity guests take aim at the media and push all the limits."
To add a slap in the face, Howard even spoke with E! just two months ago, on behalf of the estate of course, and pitched the show again. This time, with Larry Birkhead doing the opening prank, and later hosting the show. But he was turned down.
MAJOR lawsuit to come!
first
=D
Hey Perez…don;t forget your FANS in EUrope baby..I love Ya' !! ROck on…the best !!! I wanna be your friend more than anything !!! bye girlfriend
Good I hope they get sued! I cant stand Ashton and his old bag!!!
Ashton is such a bitch!
5th?
Ashton Kutcher is a LOSER!!!!! Come up with something on your own LOSER.
i hope howard wins! he needs money
first!!!!
poor ashton….I guess candid camera will sue next…
why can't he do it to… does it matter whos idea it was?
first!
ASHTON IS A FUCKFACE
third!…..so dumb- is it not possible that SOMEBODY ELSE might come up with such an obvious idea for a show…especially Ashton coming from his Punk'd series? Get real Perez
Hahahaa. Massive fail.
OMG. That shit is just sad.
There must have been a loophole for the execs to give this idea to Ashton. The is one shit storm a brewin'!
Go Team Anna! err Larry/Howard!
WAY not fair. WTF…I hope their asses get sued.
eleventh?
Thats Sucks. Sue His Ass.
wow DRAMA
hi perez greets from peru
when i kweef, is pus supose to come out? a white liquid substance?
Taking advantage of Anna again!! Go Howard. Ashton come up with your own ideas already.
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
WHAT? ASHTON IS A TALENTLESS FAG? WHY THE SURPRISE? IT'S A STUPID CONCEPT ANYWAY.GOSSIP IS NEVER ABOUT GETTING THE TRUTH ACROSS SO WHY ARE THESE AIRHEAD CELEBS THINKING THEY ARE GETTING OVER ON GOSSIPERS BY FAKING STORIES THEMSELVES AND THEN SHOWING IT ON ON E!, WHICH BY THE WAY IS A GOSSIP CHANNEL! ASS HATS.
ashton should lose big time! and why would E! go through with it even though they knew it was anna and howards concept?
stupid ashton
Your going to take any shot you can at this show because it makes you and your stalker paparazzi friends look dumber then you already are. Show with the same premise get pitched all the time, get over it.
I really hope someone fills your KY Jelly with Crazy Glue. You fat ugly smelly …
he disgusts me
Ashton who? Oh, you mean that nobody married to that cougar?
OMG!!!!
larry birkhead + howard k. stern = boyfriends
ASHTON SUCKS AND HAS NO CAREER BECAUSE HE IS A SHITTY ACTOR.
AND NOW HE IS STEALING OTHER PEOPLE'S IDEAS. A REAL CLASS ACT.
FOR ONCE I AM ROOTING FOR HOWARD K. STERN!!!
GO GET 'EM HOWARD!!
crossed anyones mind that this might be all part of the show??
How dare so called celebrites like Avril and Parisite participate in pranks on the public. If it weren't for the public buying into their bullshit, they would still be fucking nobodies. Assholes!!!!
Re: Burgat – ACTUALLY, ALL OF THE CELEBUTARDS ON POP FICTION HAVE BEEN DUPED. THEY ACTUALLY THOUGHT THE PAPS GAVE A DAM ABOUT "REALITY". AND THESE CELEBS SHOULD GIVE IT A REST ALREADY. ONE DAY WITHOUT THE PAPS FOLLOWING THEM AND THEIR EGOS WOULD SHRIVEL UP AND DIE. THERE ARE PLENTY OF BIG NAME CELEBRITIES WHO AREN'T TALKED BY THE PAPS AND IT'S BECAUSE THEY DON'T HANG OUT IN OBVIOUS PLACES WHERE PAPS GO. IT'S LIKE BITCHING ABOUT BEING SHITTED ON BUT YOU INSIST ON SITTING UNDER A TREE OF PIGEONS.
Re: SAMPROCKS! – i'm guessing they went through with it because they figured anna was dead and there would be no claim. but clearly they underestimated the tenacity of a jew attorney after a dollar. go team anna/stern/birkhead/cross-eyed baby
Re: lucy –
Good point!! Maybe this is a hoax!
It is very possible he came up with the idea on his own as well. Just a few months ago a friend of mine mentioned how he thought it would be great if celebrities pulled stunts to throw off the paps. I chimed in, "It would even be a great show, like 'Punked.'"
Point being, this is not an insanely new idea or concept. I am sure many have thought of it before.
I'm sure Ashton didn't know, but E! is gonna be in big trouble! I hope Howard gets some money for the idea and puts it in the estate for Dannie Lynn. Goodness knows she's going to need it (she will most likely have some huge shrink bills when she grows up) poor thing.
I don't care whose stupid idea this is. The show was horrible!! Was I supposed to feel sorry for Paris Hilton? She is a paparazzi slut. The only reason she is famous is because she's a whore. She uses the tabloids to perpetuate her fame and now she's complaining? Here's an idea, if you are so sick of all the press, don't go to places night after night you know they'll be at. I'm sure there are other places you can go and get just as shit faced. I can't believe I wasted a half hour of my life watching her drive around and get in and out of her car. What about that is supposed to be entertaining? Between that Kardashian show, pop fiction, that show about Denise Richards (again, who cares), and the new Dina Lohan show (like anyone should try to emulate her, look at how her kid turned out), E! has really sunk to a new low. The only thing they're missing is Lynne Spears and her trashtastic kids and/or Mrs. Hilton teaching kids how to drive drunk.
Didn't Tom Green and Monica Lewinsky do this like 10 years ago?
i think it's funny that avril can only get press when she shows up at paparazzi hang outs. she's so washed up and done she wishes someone would care about her life. that's why sh was on that show. it just confirmed how pathetic she is.
This idea has been pitched around by so many people for the past few years. Who knows who truly came up with the idea. It was such an obvious thing to try and do that many people probably CAME up wit it.
Re: al –
It doesn't matter. Someone else is documented as having pitched the idea/show first. E deserves to be sued and they will end up paying the big bucks to make this go away. Of course they'll settle, because they don't have a chance in hell of winning a lawsuit. Good for Stern (and Anna)!
The thing that sucks is that Ashton probably won't be sued - E! is at fault for this one. OR…what if THIS was part of that lame assed excuse for a show? Making all of us think that Howard K and Anna Nicole could actually come up with an original concept???
Or maybe…this means that Anna Nicole is not really dead!!!
This type of show has been pitched around town by many different people, it is nothing new. I doubt Anna Nicole was the first to come up with the idea. FYI, you can't copyright an idea, they exist in many places at many different times in many peoples heads. But Ashton is a douche anyway.
Ashton's 15 minutes are up. He has no talent and is total loser. I hope he gets sued!
If Anna came up with this idea, then pay up..It should go to the estate. Good for Howard looking after Anna still. He will make sure NO ONE takes advantage of her even in death. E thought 'HELL SHE IS DEAD' so why not take her idea and run with it and not have to pay anyone.
She's so completely blotto on medication & botox in that pic - you can tell she's mere days away from death.
Ashton is a prick and he's with Demi b/c she represents a mother figure to him and he likes to be cradled like a big baby and he still has not been weaned from Demi's implants yet.
Yeah, I heard he was going to do it 2 years ago, but said, "maybe she'll OD, let's wait a bit." Not really that original in the first place, I'm sure every celebrity at one time or another has thougt, "these people are contstantly fucking with me — should I just fuck with them for the fun of it."
The should have gave Anna the show!!!!!! I LOVE HER!!!!!
PUNKD sucked after the first season
Re: Spaz – actually THE E CHANNEL looks like idiots. SORRY ASHTON BUT THE ONLY THING NEW ABOUT THIS "CONCEPT" IS THAT IT INCLUDES BIG NAME CELEBRITIES. OTHER THAN THAT, IT'S JUST REALITY TV WHICH HAS BEEN AROUND FOR DECADES. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE HAVE ACTED ON THESE SUPPOSEDLY "REAL LIFE" SHOWS.
All Stern does is sue people and Birkhead is a pimp. Creepy.
Who cares. The show sucked. Who wants to take credit for a failure.
Oh good, more Anna Nicole Smith news. Can't get enough of that. I wish this bitch would figuratively die already. She was a gold digging stripper for christ's sake. Nothing more. She doesn't rate the type of media attention she's received for the last 3 years. GO AWAY!!
You can't patent ideas, no matter how damn lame they are. And let's face it, Perez's puppy could have come up with this one and probably executed in a more interesting way.
Anna would have done the show much better than this man whore, ashton kutcher,and i'm 100% sure that if this bitch hadn't got married to demi moore he woudn't even exist in hollyweird.cuz whether u like it or not,he's nothing without her(and i'm not even a fan of demi moore).is it a coincidence that his only success is punk'd and it started in 2003 when he started dating demi moore?
the show was stupid. of all the people to choose, they chose paris hilton, who craves the paparazzi attention, maybe the paparazzi should prank her and ignore her for a week.
Another false story…
No one else is reporting this…more spin by you to hate on something.
Re: You never learn! – Actually it has been reported other places retard.
i watched Keeping up with the Kardashians, but…
tht "pop fiction"..is just another "punked"!
i mean whocares about Avril Lavighne?!?!
i know i didnt think tht anorexic-belimic tramp
was pregnant
Ashton has sucked since he married Demi!!!!!!!!
Having the same idea for a show isn't a crime.
This concept isn't rocket science, and it's very similar to Punked so it's really easy to imagine that he came up with this idea without any help.
what happens if Anna Nicole Smith and other celebrities turn the tables and capitalize off of the overzealous media? What if the show Anna Nicole Smith wants to do doesn't happen? What if everything that has been done before is done again? What if the public doesn't give a shit and the media doesn't know it? What if Perez Hilton went to the gym three times a week and ate right instead of scarfing down American fast food garbge? Anna Nicole and other celebrity guests take aim at the media and push all the limits. Is America ready for Perez to be thinner then that fat mother of ive who works at Wal-mart? All this and MORE coming soon!
boohoo, the fucking murder loses one!!!!
ever thought that THIS may be one of the pranks ?
Re: KC –
Wrong again…not ONE (TV Guide, E!, Insider, etc.) is reporting on it….cause it's not a story. NO TRUTH TO IT! Think for a second genius…would a network do that…NO! Besides, guess the Anna Nicole pitch wasn't good enough and the current one is! People come up with similar ideas all the time and they get pitched! PLEASE get a clue!
I am on Ashton's side with this.
I can't tell you how many times I've been in the middle of a book plot (I'm a writer) and another book or movie come out with a very similar premise, thus fucking up my story.
People think up the same ideas all the time. It doesn't mean that they're stealing.
And, Ashton's been pranking people for more than three years. He probably had this idea long ago and wanted to ride out punkd as long as possible.
You gotta know that it was Howard who came up with the idea. Anna didn't have ideas. Anna was the "celebrity" behind the concept, Howard was the brains behind it all.
Good for Howard for not letting E! get away with this. What were they thinking? Did they think that Howard would just ignore it, even after the idea was REGISTERED with the Guild in 2004?
Go get them Howard!
I hope Howard does sue! Ashton is such a poser, pompous retard.
Ashton Kutcher is a total fucking loser for trying to steal from a dead person!..I hope Stern sues both him and the E! Network's ass off!!
I know that theirs that case with that sleazy doctor from Texas for trying to sell that boob job of Anna. Didnt Stern put an end to that to?? it really does seem like Stern is the only one who has Anna's back.
LET ANNA NICOLE SMITH REST IN PEACE ALREADY!!!
maybe ashton didnt know about it?
I'm apparently the only lawyer who reads this site.
Ideas aren't copyrightable. Ashton and his team will win, if they fight it.
He's still kind of a bitch, though.
BA BA BOOOOEEEEY!!!
ATLEAST 5 years ago there was a british show where people would fake situations to get put in the news. it was regular people but it was the same concept
the winner was the one who could get the most press out of thier story
they can sue but they won't prevail. you can't steal a reality show.
i dunno if aston knew or not, but e should pay up. they HAD to know. i hope howie sues the fuck outta them and gives the money to the kid.
and the only thing i wanna see about paris is her fucking funeral. sick whore.
They turned down Anna and Howard because they did not want to work with a bunch of FREAKS! Now Anna is a dead freak, thanks Howard. BTW, where did they get the idea of "Pop Fiction" does that sound familiar? Maybe Quinton should sue Howard and Larry Nicole.
Most of the shows that you're watching on TV are *stolen* ideas. Studios and networks take meetings with unknown/ smalltime producers, then take their ideas to their friends at more established companies. I personally know several people who've seen the shows (or VERY SIMILAR versions) they pitched on HBO, MTV, and the Discovery Channel. This is an everyday thing.
So you can pitch an idea to a network (and have documentation of that pitch and an ongoing discussion with the netowrk re the idea) they can say no thanks but still use the idea without giving the people who made the original pitch any sort of credit (monetary or otherwise) and it's all OK?
Lawyer who said it's legal? Did you get your degree from the Law School of Cracker and Jack?
Joke.
Seriously, if that isn't illegal - it should be.
That Howard K. Stern has got some big suits on his hand. First his suit against Rita Cosby, which he seems destined to win, and now this. Of course E! turned down a show with him as the host. Who wants to get creeped every week when he's on screen? Additionally, the irony here is just great. Ashton stealing an idea from the gold digger and her minions of thieves that may turn out to be worthwhile. Classic.