‘Anna Nicole’ Is Renewing a Family Feud

The legal battle between former Playboy centerfold Anna Nicole Smith and her late oil tycoon husband’s son hasn’t always been solely over his money. Early on, it also involved the body the Texas billionaire left behind.

A judge in 1995 ruled that J. Howard Marshall’s cremated remains should be split evenly between the warring parties, a Solomon-like decision that seemingly put the issue to rest.

If only it were that simple.

Last Sunday, an urn containing half of Marshall’s ashes made an appearance on cable television’s “The Anna Nicole Show”--getting a tour of his widow’s San Fernando Valley home and finding eternal rest atop her TV.

“This is the fireplace. See?” Smith said, holding back tears as she cradled a box containing Marshall’s urn. “This is the kitchen. Food. I have money now.”

It was a guest spot that is making the keeper of Marshall’s other half angry enough to consider yet another lawsuit for slander and has ignited a new war of words between Marshall’s son and widow.

“We watched it in disgust,” said David Margulies, a spokesman for E. Pierce Marshall, who has been fighting Smith in court for seven years over his father’s estate. “It was so insensitive, so outrageous.”

In March, a federal judge in Santa Ana awarded Smith nearly $89 million from her late husband’s estate, finding that the 34-year-old former stripper loved the 90-year-old businessman during their 14 months of marriage.

Smith has yet to see a dime. A Texas probate court earlier ruled the younger Marshall is the sole heir to his father’s fortune. Appeals are pending, and the case could end up in the U.S. Supreme Court.

But not before Smith’s “reality TV” series makes its mark on the unreal made-for-the-tabloids case.

The “Anna Nicole Show” has been a hit for E! Entertainment. The show’s debut this month garnered the cable network its highest rating ever. Although the second week’s ratings were down noticeably, it is still a big ratings boost for E! A network spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on the dispute.

The show’s premise is simple: Smith is followed around by a camera crew. She eats. She runs errands. She squeezes her ample body into tight-fitting clothes. She mumbles incoherently.

Smith’s co-stars include her Prozac-eating poodle, 16-year-old son Daniel and personal assistant. Often by her side is Marina del Rey attorney Howard K. Stern, who, with a smear of lipstick on his face, accompanied Smith as she carried Marshall’s ashes from room to room on Sunday’s show.

The show’s debut has launched a new war of words between son and former stepmother that may well end up as part of their long-running case.

Said Marshall in a statement: “I think the public will conclude that this plus-sized model and her lipstick-covered attorney don’t have an ounce of decency or credibility between them.”

Shot back Stern, also in a statement: “E. Pierce should just pay the money he owes, mind his own business and let Anna Nicole move on with her life. Nobody forces E. Pierce or his publicist to watch the show, and their childish outbursts and name-calling only add fuel to the fire.”