Shock waves were sent throughout the music industry last week when teen pop sensation Justin Bieber was accused by a 20-year-old woman of fathering her baby and hit with a paternity lawsuit. Now, in the heat of the paternity scandal, Bieber has finally addressed the accusations and is denying that he is the father of the child.
During a visit to NBC’s “Today” show on Nov. 4 to promote his new Christmas album, Bieber spoke with host Matt Lauer about the paternity scandal and said that none of the allegations are true.
“To set the record straight, none of it is true,” said Bieber. “I know I’m going to be a target, but I’m never going to be a victim. It’s crazy, because every night after the show I’ve gone right from the stage right to my car. So it’s crazy that some people want to make up such false allegations.”
Last week, Mariah Yeater filed a paternity lawsuit against Bieber, alleging that the singer impregnated her when he was just 16, when the two had sex while backstage after a show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. However, Beiber told Lauer that he’s “never met the woman.”
Yeater claims that she tried to contact Bieber after she learned she was pregnant but was unable to get in touch with the singer. She gave birth to a son, Tristyn Anthony Markhouse Yeater, in July, whom she claims is the son of Bieber. Yeater now wants Bieber to take a paternity test to prove that he is the boy’s father and is demanding that he pay child support as well.
Bieber isn’t the only one facing a legal maelstrom, though. According to Billboard, Los Angeles police have said that Yeater may be investigated for sex with a minor. At the time of the alleged incident, Yeater was 19, just three years older than Bieber. In California, it’s illegal to have sex with someone under the age of 18. If the other person is not more than three years older, it is a misdemeanor, which carries up to a one-year jail sentence.
Besides denying being the father, Bieber is now ready to fight back against Yeater’s claim. According to TMZ, a source close to Bieber, who is currently in Europe, will take a DNA test in two weeks once he returns to the U.S.to prove that he is not the father of the child. At that point, Bieber and his legal team plan to sue Yeater for her accusations. A court hearing on the matter has also been scheduled for Dec. 15.
Though Bieber’s paternity scandal is indeed shocking, it isn’t the first time that a celebrity has been caught up in paternity drama. Here are five other stars who’ve endured paternity scandals. –nicholas robinson
1. Bill Cosby – Back in the mid-1990’s famed comedian and TV star Bill Cosby found himself high-profile scandal after being accused of fathering a then-22-year-old woman named Autumn Jackson. Things became complicated when Jackson refused to submit to blood tests to prove that Cosby was her father but shortly after Cosby submitted to a blood test, his name was cleared when Jackson was convicted of trying to extort million s from Cosby and sentenced to five years in prison.
2. Eddie Murphy – In 2006, Murphy and former Spice Girls member Melanie Brown aka Scary Spice, were involved in a hot and brief fling that resulted in Brown becoming pregnant. However, Murphy originally denied that the child was his and claimed he wouldn’t believe he was the chid until a blood test was performed. After a number of legal battles and Angel Iris Murphy Brown’s birth in April 2007, a paternity test proved that Brown was indeed her father and Brown began paying child support.
3. Tiger Woods – In 2010, during the height of Tiger Wood’s adultery scandal, the golf legend was accused by porn star Devon James of fathering her 9-year-old son. However, Woods was proven not to be the father after results from a 2002 paternity test surfaced.
4. Arnold Schwarzenegger – Truly one of the most shocking and dumbfounding celebrity paternity scandals ever recorded, in 2011, film star and former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger revealed to his wife Maria Shriver that he’d engaged in an adulterous affair fathered a child with a member of their household staff more than a decade ago. Shriver subsequently moved out of their family’s mansion and filed for divorce from the Governator.
5. Jay-Z – Hov is currently expecting a child with his superstar wife Beyoncé. But in 2007, reports claimed that Jay fathered a secret son with Trinidadian model Shenelle Scott and paid for the Scott and the baby to return to the comfort and silence of Trinidad. Earlier this year, the father of Scott’s ex-boyfriend, who allegedly dumped her after learning about the baby, denied the reports. It’s still unclear as to what the truth is about the story, but this paternity scandal remains something of a popular legend in the music industry.
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