Rumor Mill: Did Ashton Steal His Show From Anna Nicole?

(Getty)

E! seems to be trying to clear up any rumors that it's newest show Pop Fiction wasn't an original idea from professional pranker Ashton Kutcher, but that it was, in fact, stolen from none other than,, Anna Nicole Smith.

It's been reported that over three years ago, Anna Nicole and her crew, including Howard K. Stern, pitched the show to E! and even registered the idea with the Writer's Guild. E! ultimately decided the show wouldn't work.

Cut to Pop Fictions's premiere this past Sunday. The show's concept, which uses celebs to make up fake news items to see if the media will run them, is almost identical to the one that Anna Nicole came up with. Today E! released a statement to OK! maintaining that the show is all original to Ashton.

They said, "Pop Fiction is a program independently created and developed by Ashton Kutcher's company, Katalyst. Pop Fiction is not based on any idea or concept that may have been pitched to E! by any other party."

There's rumors of a lawsuit being filed by Howard K. Stern. Stay tuned to see what happens next. Or, maybe we're just all getting punk'd!