It’s a boy! It’s a girl! It’s…unexpected. Celebrities know as well as the best of us: not every child is planned. Whether it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger’s progeny from an affair with a staffer or Steven Tyler finding out that the 11-year-old soon-to-be bombshell Liv Rundgren is actually his daughter, Liv Tyler, plenty of stars have made tabloid headlines over the years when a surprise love child enters the picture. Here, a look back at some of the most famous cases.
Days before Super Bowl XLVII, married Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino was scrambling to repair his image after it was revealed he had fathered a love child in 2005. Now a football analyst with CBS Sports, Marino (who has six children with his wife and celebrated his 28th anniversary yesterday) admitted that he had had an affair with a CBS production assistant and reportedly paid her millions to raise the child with her husband. "This is a personal and private matter. I take full responsibility both personally and financially for my actions now as I did then,” Marino told the New York Post about his quarterback sneak. “We mutually agreed to keep our arrangement private to protect all parties involved.”
Wilfredo Lee/AP
One week after he announced his separation from Maria Shriver, Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted that he had fathered a child 10 years ago with a longtime member of his household staff. "I understand and deserve the feelings of anger and disappointment among my friends and family," the former governor said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. There are no excuses and I take full responsibility for the hurt I have caused. I have apologized to Maria, my children and my family. I am truly sorry." Schwarzenegger also reportedly took financial responsibility for the child and continues to offer support.
Chris Carlson / AP Photo
The front row at the Michael Jackson memorial was filled with familiar faces, but one in particular raised eyebrows. Rumors abound that the Norwegian rapper Omer Bhatti, who sat with Jackson’s siblings at the memorial, is actually the pop star's secret love child—the product of a one-night stand. Results of a DNA test that will reveal the truth are supposedly on the way. Bhatti, now 25, was originally thought to have become close with the King of Pop by being "a childhood superfan and an impersonator of the star." Jermaine Jackson is quoted in the New York Daily News as saying Bhatti will be welcomed into the family with open arms if it turns out he is Jackson’s son. And it appears he’s already finding his place—Bhatti has been in California spending time with the family since the memorial.
Michael A. Mariant / AP Photo; Harrison Funk, MJ Memorial / Getty Images
During Steven Tyler's well-documented drug-using period in the ‘70s, he had a tumultuous relationship with a model, Bebe Buell. Buell was no stranger to the party lifestyle, either—she also had flings with Iggy Pop, David Bowie, and Mick Jagger. In 1977, while dating another rocker, Todd Rundgren, Buelle gave birth to a baby girl she named Liv Rundgren. It wasn't until 1988—at an Aerosmith concert, no less—that the 11-year-old Liv discovered that her actual father was the vocalist on stage. (The lips must have been the giveaway.) And Tyler certainly embraced his love child: Liv starred in several of Aerosmith’s smash-hit music videos in the ‘90s. Despite the confusion of her younger years, Liv told People, "Todd's my spiritual father. I love him."
Jeff Kravitz, FimMagic / Getty Images
Love child or planned pregnancy? Depends on who you ask, Eddie Murphy or Melanie Brown (aka Scary Spice). Brown said her relationship with the comedian got serious fast, and that they had planned to have a child and get married. The relationship soured fast, too. Before Brown even had the baby, Murphy was saying he was unsure whether he was the father. A paternity test confirmed that the Nutty Professor star was indeed the baby-daddy. In an interview, Brown sounded content with the breakup, hinting that Murphy's lifestyle was a bit too excessive for raising a family. Later, Brown criticized Murphy's behavior while she was pregnant. Brown has since married, and was recently seen toting her 3-year-old, who was sporting a fresh mohawk.
Frazer Harrison / Getty Images; Pete Whittle / Splash News
A one-night stand between Gavin Rossdale and Pearl Lowe in the ‘80s resulted in Daisy Lowe, who has gone on to become a hard-partying model in her own right. Pearl insisted on a paternity test, forcing Rossdale to submit to one through court. But when the truth came out, rumors abounded that Gwen Stefani, Rossdale's wife, was none too happy. And Pearl is none too happy either: Eighteen years after Daisy was born, she told Us Weekly that Rossdale had been an absentee dad: “I really don’t care if I never see him ever again,” she said of her former lover. “He’s been incredibly vile. He saw Daisy at first, but he was always rude to her, he made it feel like it was her fault. It was her 18th birthday and there was no present, no phone call, nothing."
Jason Merritt / Getty Images; Stuart Wilson / Getty Images
While still married to Dina Lohan, Lindsay’s dad had an affair with a woman named Kristi Kaufmann. In 2008, he agreed to take a paternity test to see if her daughter Ashley, then 13, was indeed his. Before the results came in, Michael told The Daily News, “I’ve seen pictures and, to tell the truth, there are similarities with Linds.” He told the paper that he would share the results with the national media—that is, until he got the brilliant idea to sell the results instead. “He’s approaching everyone to get the highest bid,” a source said. “Because, if he is the dad, he’s going to need the money for back child support.” Michael apparently peddled the results for $20,000—but no tabloid took the bait. Wrote Lindsay on her MySpace page before Christmas that year, “My father just let my family and me know, amongst other things that he had another child after my little sister Aliana. He cheated on my mother and that really sucks… MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!” Dina Lohan, on the other hand, has said that she feels “bad for the little girl.”
Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images
The day after John Edwards admitted to an affair with his former staffer Rielle Hunter, her family insisted he take a DNA test to see if he was the father of her infant daughter, Frances Quinn Hunter. Edwards initially claimed that the affair didn’t coincide with the pregnancy. Then, his close friend and former staffer, Andrew Young, also married, allegedly tried to take the fall for his pal by claiming he was the father of the child. A year after the child was born, Edwards admitted he was the father.
Heidi Gutman, NBC NewsWire / AP Images; Inset: Billy Farrell, Sipa Press
The battle for the late Anna Nicole Smith's millions is a complicated one. After her son, Daniel, died of a methadone overdose at age 20, the issue of inheritance became notoriously murky, with Howard K. Stern, Larry Birkhead, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt all simultaneously claiming to be the dad of Smith’s newborn daughter, Dannielynn. Even O.J. Simpson joked that Danielynn might be his, due to his “slow-moving sperm.” And with the media coverage after Anna's sudden death, it was clear that Dannielynn was seen by many as an investment to be claimed. But a 2007 paternity test eventually confirmed Larry Birkhead as the father. “I hate to be the one who told you this, but: I told you so,” Birkhead said at press conference after the results were announced. “I’m the father.”
Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP Photo; Mike / Fame Pictures
A renowned basketball legend, Julius Erving fathered more children than he won MVP awards—and that's saying a lot. Though his marriage to Turquoise Erving lasted over 30 years, an affair (not his last) with sportswriter Samantha Stevenson bore him a child that he wouldn’t meet for 27 years. According to ESPN Erving missed the childbirth because he had a game against the Pacers. The love child, Alexandra Stevenson, would be kept a family secret until she reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 1999, at which point the public learned of her surprising heritage. But it wasn’t until 2008 that Erving began to get to know his daughter.
Michael Perez / AP Photo; Dorothea Mueller / AP Photo
Naveen Andrews, best known for his roles in ABC's Lost and the film Grindhouse, aims high (in years) when it comes to women. When he was a 16-year-old in London, he fell in love and began an affair with his math teacher. Now he is in a relationship with actress Barbara Hershey, who is 21 years his senior. But when the two briefly separated in 2005, Andrews fathered a son with Czech-French actress Elena Eustache. Since Andrews and Hershey subsequently reconciled, they have been locked in a custody battle with Eustache over the kid, Naveen Joshua. In the latest development, custody had been transferred to Andrews, who has taken his son to Lost's filming set in Hawaii.
Kristie Bull, Graylock.com / AP Photo
Robin Gibb, the late famed member of the Bee Gees, always enjoyed an open relationship with his wife, Dwina, a bisexual former Druid priestess. She even condoned Robin’s eight-year affair with their housekeeper, Claire Yang, which took place in her own home. But it seems a line was crossed when Gibb revealed that Yang had become pregnant. A furious Dwina forced Yang out of the house, into a rented residence five miles down the road. Robin visited regularly until his death in 2012.
Andreas Rentz / Getty Images
Elizabeth Hurley announced she was pregnant in the fall of 2001, and named the L.A. producer and real-estate heir Steve Bing as the father. Though Hurley claimed they had dated for 18 months, Bing insisted that they had never been exclusive. When Damien Charles Hurley was born, Bing filed suit in a London family court for a paternity test, and flew from L.A. to London to have his cheek swabbed. Bing, who is the heir to a $600 million real-estate fortune, said he wanted to know if he was the father because he “wanted to be involved” with the child. The DNA results proved Bing was indeed the father. But at the same time as the Hurley hullabaloo, Bing was also named as the father in another paternity scandal: Kirk Kerkorian, then 84, insisted that Bing was the biological father of his 4-year-old daughter, after a private eye sneaked into Bing’s home to procure a piece of floss from Bing’s trash can for DNA testing. Bing sued Kerkorian for trespassing, and admitted that he was the father. Maybe it was Liz Hurley who put it best, calling him simply: “Bing Laden.”
Dave Hogan / Getty Images; Goff / INFphoto.com
