10 Strangest Celebrity Paternity Cases

If you’ve ever seen an episode of Maury, you’ve probably seen the outlandish paternity cases involving trashy people trying to pinpoint who a child’s father is. Though most of us don’t have to face this kind of drama in our everyday lives, celebrities aren’t immune to it. Sometimes famous people actually father children out of wedlock, and other times, crazy women come out of the woodwork to try to get a famous dad for their kids. Of course, just like most stories that involve celebs, these paternity suits sometimes take surprising turns. These 10 are no exception.

1. Justin Bieber

   Most of us were surprised to find out that Justin Bieber had fathered a child since we weren’t aware he had gone through puberty yet. Apparently, Bieber was surprised as well when Mariah Yeater claimed he was the father of her 3-month-old son and that she had hooked up with him after a concert in L.A. when he was 16. This saga is ongoing until Bieber gets back from playing shows in Europe and can take a paternity test, but he says there is no chance this child is his. If the test proves he is the father, Yeater could be on trial for statutory rape since she was 19 at the time.

2. Eddie Murphy

   Melanie Brown, better known as Scary Spice, wasn’t anyone’s favorite Spice Girl, but she did win the favor of Eddie Murphy long enough to get pregnant. Brown thought they were in love and was surprised when Murphy broke up with her (especially since a friend had to tell her the news) and said he didn’t think the baby was his. He demanded a paternity test, and found out he is the father, though Brown says she isn’t allowing him to be involved in their daughter’s life.

3. Anna Nicole Smith

   The birth of Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter and Smith’s death right afterward were the source of months of tabloid stories. Several men stepped forward claiming to be the father of the child after the former Playboy Playmate died, since the baby could inherit millions of dollars. Smith’s former boyfriend Larry Birkhead, her live-in boyfriend Howard K. Stern, and Gsa-Gsa Gabor’s husband (where’d he come from?) all claimed they were the baby’s father. In the end, a paternity test showed Birkhead was the baby’s dad, and he got full custody.

4. Neil Bush

   The son of one president and younger brother of another, Neil Bush had a lot to live up to but didn’t quite make it. As Bush and his wife, Sharon, went through a nasty divorce, he had apparently begun dating another woman who was married, Maria Andrews. Sharon claimed that Andrews’ youngest child was actually fathered by Bush, setting off a paternity case that ended with Bush not being the father and Sharon being sued by the real father, Andrews’ now-ex-husband, for defamation. This is probably the least scandalous part of the Bush divorce, since it also came out that Bush had gotten herpes from an escort and that Sharon had ripped hair out of his head to either test for drugs or make a voodoo doll.

5. Prince Albert of Monaco

   Being royal may have its perks, but it doesn’t save you from facing some of the scandals of the real world. In mid-2011, after a fairytale wedding to a former Olympic swimmer, Prince Albert of the tiny, rich nation of Monaco had to take a paternity test to see if he had fathered a third illegitimate child. He already had two from a flight attendant and an estate agent, neither of which can inherit the throne under Monaco law. The latest paternity suit was brought by a topless model, but was dismissed after the test showed the prince was not the father. That fact came too late, though, for the royal couple to have a very romantic honeymoon.

6. Steve Jobs

   Because Steve Jobs was such an innovative genius, we sometimes forget that he had a personal life. He kept it all pretty private, but we do know he had some paternity issues earlier in his life. When Jobs was just 23, his high-school girlfriend gave birth to a daughter, Lisa. For two years, Jobs denied that the girl was his, telling a court that he was sterile so there was no chance for him to have a child. Eventually, he accepted Lisa and met her when she was 8. Their relationship grew over time, with her vacationing and even living with him for a few years when she was a teenager. You can’t really blame her for letting him into her life — it was probably pretty hard to hold a grudge against the guy responsible for giving us the iPod.

7. Steven Tyler

   There wasn’t a dramatic paternity suit brought against Steven Tyler by Liv Tyler’s mother. Bebe Buell had been a bit of a groupie during the ’70s, and had told Liv that her father was another rock star, Todd Rundgren. When Liv was nine years old, though, she met Steven and his daughter, Mia, and couldn’t get over how much she and Mia looked alike. When she confronted her mother about the resemblance, Buell fessed up. Because Steven had been into drugs when Liv was born, Buell hadn’t wanted him to act as her dad. Steven accepted Liv as his daughter, and she changed her last name to Tyler in 1991. The two developed a relationship, and Steven helped Liv jumpstart her career.

8. Charlie Chaplin

   The man who infamously came in third in a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest brought comedy to the big screen during some of the hardest times America has seen. Chaplin’s personal life was also a source of entertainment. He was involved with many women, and married several. One of his affairs was with Joan Barry, an actress, who he decided was a little too crazy for his liking and ended their relationship. Barry had a child and filed a paternity suit against Chaplin. A blood test showed that he was not actually the father of the baby, but Barry’s lawyer somehow convinced the court that the test was inadmissible as evidence. The court ordered Chaplin to pay child support for the kid that wasn’t his until the child’s 18th birthday.

9. Paul McCartney

   As a member of the Beatles, there’s no doubt that Paul McCartney had women swooning over him all the time. One of these ladies says she got lucky and had a three-year affair with the bassist in the ’60s that produced a daughter, Bettina Hubers. It took 17 years for McCartney to finally take a blood test, but when it showed he wasn’t the father, Hubers didn’t believe it. After all, who wouldn’t want a Beatle as a dad? Almost 25 years after that test, Hubers tried to convince a court that McCartney had used a stand-in for the blood work, but the statute of limitations on fraud had run out and her case was thrown out. We’ll never know if McCartney is her father or whether he’s actually dead and using a stand-in for life.

10. Keanu Reeves

    Most women try to win child support when they’re, you know, supporting their child. But Karen Sala decided to do things a little bit differently. She claimed that Keanu Reeves was the father of her four adult children and that she wanted millions of dollars in retroactive child support and spousal support. Reeves says he didn’t even know who this woman was. Even stranger, Sala said that Reeves used hypnosis to change the results of the paternity test (which obviously showed he wasn’t the father) and that he could make himself look like other people, including her ex-husband. The case was thrown out, and hopefully this woman got some psychological help.

Taken From Medical Billing and Coding