Prince Frederic von Anhalt has launched a $10 million libel action against broadcaster Fox – owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp – and talk show host Bill O'Reilly over allegations that he was a fraud for claiming he could be the father of the late Anna Nicole Smith's baby.
Von Anhalt, who is married to Zsa Zsa Gabor, filed the suit yesterday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
He is seeking damages of at least 10 million dollars – GBP5 million.
The claim stems from comments the talk show host made during a February 22 segment of The O'Reilly Factor, the Associated Press news agency reported.
It said that according to a transcript of the show posted on the network's website, O'Reilly said: "Look, this guy's a fraud.
"We know he's a fraud. But let's – what I want to talk about is – he's done. His credibility is – is finished."
Prince Frederic said that since the show was broadcast, people had given him dirty looks when he went shopping, and added: "They say, 'Look, here comes the fraud'. I get lots of emails from people bad-mouthing me. It's very embarrassing."
Last month, Prince Frederic filed legal documents seeking a DNA test to determine if he was the father of Smith's baby girl, Dannielynn. He has said he carried on a decade-long affair with former model and Playboy Bunny girl, who once featured as a centrefold in Playboy magazine.
Two other men also claim to be the father – Smith's former boyfriend Larry Birkhead and her most recent companion, Howard Stern, whose name appears on the baby's birth certificate.
Ms Smith died in a Florida hotel room on February 8.
Her death has sparked a major legal battle over the paternity of her six-month-old daughter, who was born in the Bahamas, where the former reality TV star went in an attempt to keep the baby out of the jurisdiction of the American courts.
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