Bahamian official resigns after Smith scandal

NASSAU, Bahamas – Immigration Minister Shane Gibson resigned Sunday night in a flap over his relationship with Anna Nicole Smith, apologizing to the Bahamian people for any embarrassment he may have caused the country.

Photos recently appeared in a Bahamas newspaper showing Gibson in bed with the former Playboy Playmate and embracing her. Both were fully clothed, but the pictures stoked a controversy because Gibson had fast-tracked Smith’s application for permanent residency on the island chain.

“I want to apologize to all persons who may in any way have been offended by anything that I have said, done, or perceived to have said or done,” Gibson said on state TV.

However, Gibson denied any wrongdoing and said he did not have a sexual relationship with Smith, who died Feb. 8 in Hollywood, Fla. She had based her residency application upon her claimed ownership of a waterfront mansion in the Bahamas. However, the ownership of the property is disputed.

Prime Minister Perry Christie said he had accepted Gibbon’s resignation.

“However sad Shane’s decision to resign may be, I also believe, as does he, that it is the correct course of action for him to take in all of the circumstances,” the prime minister said on TV.

Gibson stated emphatically during a special broadcast on the national television station that although he was stepping down, he was not admitting to any of the allegations against him, calling them “vicious and wicked lies.”

“I unconditionally deny that I ever abused my ministerial office by granting Anna Nicole Smith any permit of which she was undeserving or for which she was not qualified under the laws of the Bahamas,” he said.

The Tribune of Nassau on Feb. 12 published two photos on its front page showing Smith and Gibson embracing on a bed decorated with pink flowers and a white ribbon. The newspaper said the photographs were taken in Smith’s bedroom and that it obtained the pictures from an unidentified source.