Larry Birkhead Details “Cult-Like” Dynamic With Anna Nicole Smith

“Howard slept on the couch below [Anna Nicole’s room],” he continued. “It was a little bit uneasy for me because he’d bring the dogs in. ‘The dogs want to see you again.’ I’m like, ‘OK.’ Or, ‘Here’s what we’re doing today.’ Some of it was necessary, but some of it, I think, was to get in there to figure out what we were doing.”

Despite his mixed feelings about the dynamic at the time, Larry acknowledged that Howard—whom he battled in court over Danielynn’s paternity following Anna Nicole’s death in February 2007—was “the cleanup man” in the model’s life, which often put him in uncomfortable situations.

“I don’t want to make excuses for him because in the moment, it hurt what he was doing to me,” Larry explained. “I try to see everything from both sides, but I do know that it became difficult to exist in the relationship with her.”

E! News has reached out to Howard for comment and has not heard back.

These days, Larry—who raised Danielynn as a single father—is focused on helping the teen step into young adulthood while avoiding those looking to benefit from her notoriety.

“She has great friends—but I’ve learned to keep one eye open,” he told E! News in June. “It feels like I’m always on security duty, always scanning the room. We’ve had to make life adjustments. But at the same time, we’ve had so much support.”

Larry added of his daughter, “I’m proud of the young woman she’s become: silly, smart, fun and beautiful.”