Schwarzenegger Admits He Had a Child on the Side

Here we have a headline that smacks of the inevitable: Arnold Schwarzenegger has conceded that he fathered a child just over 10 years ago with a longtime member of his household staff. This “event,” as the former California governor called it in a statement he made late on Monday to the Los Angeles Times, apparently had something to do with Schwarzenegger’s recent split from his longtime wife, Maria Shriver. –KA

Los Angeles Times:

Since leaving office, Schwarzenegger has maintained a high public profile, meeting with world dignitaries, attending a White House summit on immigration and working to revive his movie career.

To protect their privacy, The Times is not publishing the former staffer’s name nor that of her child. In an interview Monday before Schwarzenegger issued his statement, the former staffer said another man — her then-husband — was the child’s father.

She said she voluntarily left her position with the couple earlier this year after reaching a longstanding goal of working for them for two decades. “I wanted to achieve my 20 years, then I asked to retire,” she said, adding she received a severance payment and “left on good terms with them.”

Later Monday, The Times informed the woman of the governor’s statement and she declined to comment further.

Schwarzenegger took financial responsibility for the child from the start and continued to provide support, according to a source who declined to be identified because of the former governor’s request for privacy.

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