Stars involved in public paternity test cases

Paternity tests can turn private family questions into very public stories, especially when celebrities are involved.

For some stars, DNA tests confirmed they were the father. For others, tests disproved claims. In a few older cases, early blood testing created legal controversy long before modern DNA testing became standard.

This article focuses only on public, documented cases involving court records, public statements, or reliable reporting.

Here are celebrities whose paternity test stories became public.

1. Eddie Murphy

Eddie Murphy’s paternity dispute with Mel B became one of the most widely covered celebrity family stories of the 2000s.

Mel B gave birth to daughter Angel Iris Murphy Brown in April 2007 and had long said Murphy was the father. A DNA test later confirmed that Murphy was Angel’s biological father. PEOPLE reported that the test was taken in June 2007 and that the results confirmed Mel B’s claim.

The story became public because Murphy had previously questioned paternity before the test.

2. Tristan Thompson

Tristan Thompson publicly confirmed in January 2022 that a paternity test showed he had fathered a child with Maralee Nichols.

The NBA player shared a statement saying the test results revealed he was the father and that he took responsibility for his actions. PEOPLE reported his statement and noted that the paternity result came after Nichols had filed a legal claim.

3. Larry Birkhead

Larry Birkhead’s paternity case involving Anna Nicole Smith’s daughter Dannielynn became a major celebrity legal story in 2007.

After Smith’s death, multiple claims and legal questions surrounded the child’s paternity and custody. DNA test results later confirmed that Birkhead was Dannielynn’s father. PEOPLE reported that the DNA results were revealed in the Bahamas and established Birkhead as the father.

4. Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger’s paternity test involving Brazilian model Luciana Morad also became public in the late 1990s.

Morad gave birth to Lucas in 1999. Blood tests later confirmed that the Rolling Stones frontman was the father. CBS News reported that Jagger’s spokesman confirmed the positive blood test result in July 1999.

The case later led to child-support proceedings. The Guardian reported in 2000 that Jagger formally confirmed he was Lucas’ father during a family-court proceeding.

5. Gavin Rossdale

Gavin Rossdale discovered through DNA testing that model Daisy Lowe was his biological daughter.

For years, Daisy believed another man was her father. In 2004, a paternity test revealed that Rossdale, who had been her godfather, was actually her biological father. PEOPLE reported on the fallout from the DNA findings and Daisy’s public comments about how difficult the situation was at the time.

6. Boris Becker

Boris Becker faced a paternity suit involving Anna Ermakova, the daughter of Angela Ermakova.

The tennis champion initially denied paternity, but DNA testing later confirmed that he was Anna’s father. The Irish Times reported that Becker accepted he was the father following DNA tests.

Becker later publicly acknowledged responsibility.

7. Jude Law

Jude Law’s paternity test story became public in 2009.

Model Samantha Burke gave birth to daughter Sophia, and DNA testing later confirmed that Law was the father. The Irish Examiner reported that Burke’s agent said DNA testing had conclusively established Law’s paternity.

8. Keanu Reeves

Keanu Reeves faced a paternity lawsuit from a Canadian woman who claimed he had fathered her children.

A DNA test disproved the claim, and an Ontario judge dismissed the case in 2010. CBS News reported that the woman disputed the DNA results in court, while other coverage noted that the case was dismissed after the test showed Reeves was not the father.

9. Chris Rock

Chris Rock also faced a paternity claim that was later disproved by DNA testing.

In 2007, a lawyer for Rock said a court-ordered DNA test proved the comedian was not the father of a teenage boy whose mother had sought support. CBS News reported that the test results were sent to lawyers on both sides of the case.

10. Charlie Chaplin

Charlie Chaplin’s paternity case is one of the most famous and unusual in Hollywood history.

In the 1940s, blood tests were used in a paternity dispute involving Joan Barry and her daughter. The tests indicated that Chaplin was not the biological father, but the court still held him legally responsible under the law at the time.

11. Yves Montand

French entertainer Yves Montand became part of a major posthumous paternity case.

After his death, Montand’s remains were exhumed in 1998 so DNA could be tested in connection with a woman’s claim that he was her father. Wired reported that Montand became the first major celebrity in France to be exhumed for DNA testing in a paternity case.

12. Diego Maradona

Diego Maradona faced several paternity disputes during and after his life.

One of the most documented involved Diego Maradona Jr., whom Maradona later formally recognized after years of refusing DNA testing. The Guardian reported that Maradona had refused to take a DNA test for more than two decades before formally recognizing Diego Jr. in 2016.

13. Blueface

Rapper Blueface became part of a recent public paternity-test story involving Chrisean Rock’s son.

In 2025, Chrisean Rock shared what appeared to be paternity test results showing that Blueface was the child’s biological father. The Express Tribune reported that the test was shared publicly and appeared to have been conducted in 2023.