Dannielynn Birkhead: Anna Nicole Smith"s Daughter Makes Rare Public Appearance

The Kentucky Derby was held at Churchill Downs over the weekend, and as usual, many of Hollywood’s best and brightest made the trip to Louisville.

For most of the celebrity attendees, the Derby was just one of many high-profile red carpet events on their calendar for 2018, but for one famous name, this is the social highlight of the year:

The family of Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter, Dannielynn Birkhead, generally tries to keep the 11-year-old out of the spotlight as much as possible.

But on the first Saturday of every May, equestrian enthusiast Dannielynn dresses to the nines and steps out with her father, Larry Birkhead.

Larry tweeted the above photo on Saturday along with the following caption:

“Celebrating the Kentucky Derby with Dannielynn,” he wrote.

“Rain won’t spoil our awesome Derby day! #halfwaycooldad.”

Birkhead also shared the above photo from a Derby after-party, noting that there’s a special poignancy to the event:

“Dannielynn before she raided the dessert room at the Barnstable-Brown Party where I met her Mom in 2003,” Larry captioned the pic, adding the hashtags:

“#lifefullcircle #BarnstableBrownParty.”

Though her mother died of a drug overdose when Dannielynn was just 5 months, she and her father often pay tribute to Anna Nicole, so as to ensure that the young girl always feels a connection to the late model.

In February of 2016, Larry memorably shared a letter that Dannielynn had written him during a candid 20/20 interview:

“Ever since my mother’s death, a friend of hers said she would send me pretty butterflies,” Dannielynn wrote.

“So, butterflies chase me everywhere and I let the butterfly come out of my pencil and fly on my paper with its wings of love.”

In the past, Larry has been accused of exploiting Anna Nicole’s death to boost his public profile, but these days, it seems he’s devoting most of his time and attention to his daughter.

Despite her often tumultuous upbringing, Dannielynn seems remarkable well-adjusted, and those who know the girl say she shares her mother’s ability to light up a room.

Here’s hoping Larry continues to mostly keep Dannielynn from the spotlight, for her sake.

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Dannielynn, Larry Birkhead Honor Anna Nicole in the Bahamas

The world has been very critical of Larry Birkhead"s apparent exploitation of his daughter, Dannielynn, accusing him of Anna Nicole Smith"s life and death for goodwill. And, of course, for cash.

But we"ve seen less of him, lately. The last time he was really on our radar was, what, when he went on Hollywood Medium?

Now he and Dannielynn — who is now 11 years old — are back in a video (below) showing their adventures together as Anna Nicole"s daughter visits the land of her birth: The Bahamas.

Anna Nicole Smith was a sweet woman who died too young.

After an epic battle in which multiple men claimed paternity of her infant daughter, it was determined that Larry had fathered Dannielynn Hope Marshall Birkhead.

Larry hasn"t always been viewed as the best father. Notably, he signed Dannielynn up for modeling when she was six years old.

(In case you"ve forgotten, Anna Nicole herself was a troubled ex-model, and it"s widely believed that she"d still be alive today if she hadn"t been thrust into the spotlight as she was)

Dannielynn is 11 years old, now. (Anybody else feeling super old?)

And Larry Birkhead decided that it was high time that he take her on a trip to the Bahamas, where she was born. Whether he did it for Dannielynn or to get his face on camera again … well, that"s hard to know.

But the video"s very sweet.

In the video, Larry Birkhead does most (nearly all) of the talking to Us Weekly"s cameras as he and Dannielynn explore the Bahamas.

"This trip back for Dannielynn is kind of special because she doesn’t really know a whole lot about the place where she was born."

That sounds like a plausible reason to go.

"When Dannielynn was little and I used to bring her here, the people used to come out screaming, ‘The people’s princess Dannielynn is here,’ cause it was such a big deal about her birth here, and they embrace her and they come up and ask for pictures and stuff all the time."

Well, it"s not Dannielynn"s fault that a rich white child getting called a "princess" within the Caribbean is … awkward. Also, a couple of women did ask for a selfie.

Larry talks about the wonderful things that Anna Nicole did with her wealth.

"She was charitable and she did a lot of things for people that people don’t know."

She was, by all accounts, a total sweetheart.

"I’m still getting these cards from kids that she supported overseas and they didn’t know she was Anna Nicole, but they’d come to have found out later."

That is precious.

He takes Dannielynn to a pastel pink courthouse. The very courthouse where he won his paternity case.

"I remember coming out of this door right here and they said, ‘You can take Dannielynn home to Kentucky or wherever you’re gonna move.’ And I came out, I was so happy."

Larry Birkhead tells the cameras about Dannielynn.

"She likes scary movies, like her mom. She likes to do roller coasters and fun things like her mom used to."

She also has a beautiful smile.

As for her current interests … they"re very age-appropriate.

"Dannielynn is more interested in wanting to be a YouTuber and make her own videos, so those are the types of things that she’s interested in."

She"s beautiful and young and famous, which describes a lot of YouTubers. (We don"t imagine that she"s a horrifying racist like certain YouTubers have turned out to be)

"I still have to warn her that, you know, your friend might have a YouTube account, but if you have a YouTube account that’s different, because people know who you are."

That is a somewhat clumsily worded version of very good advice.

Honestly, if and when Dannielynn gets her own YouTube channel (what a gift that would be), comments might need to be disabled. There are some real creeps who would love nothing more than to upset a famous tween girl.

Larry continues describe what it"s like being Dannielynn"s parent.

"Sometimes you feel like a bodyguard, sometimes you feel like a chauffeur."

That"s, well, that"s what parenting is like.

"It depends on what the day is. But my job is dad and I think I’ve done a pretty good job. She’s adjusted to it and she’s just a normal kid."

Dannielynn seems obsessed with her phone, which is relatable and age-appropriate.

Here"s the video in its entirety:

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