While we're used to seeing children of famous celebrities thriving in Hollywood, the fame and fortune of the industry's biggest stars do not immediately guarantee a privileged lifestyle for their offspring. When Joseph Baena, the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger, graduated college, he suddenly found himself left without any financial support from his famous father.
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Despite the Terminator star's substantial wealth, he chose not to support his son financially. So, why did Schwarzenegger cut his son off? Let's take a deeper look into the life of Arnold Schwarzenegger's son to find out.
Joseph Baena is Born
Joseph Baena was born on October 2, 1997, in California. His mother, Mildred Patricia Baena was married to Rogelio Baena at the time, and worked as the housekeeper for the Schwarzenegger family in the early ‘90s in Los Angeles.
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Later in his life, Joseph's mother moved the family to Bakersfield, California—100 miles north and a far cry from the glamour of Los Angeles—where he and his family lived humbly. But Mildred was hiding a secret that threatened to tear the family apart.
Guatemalan Family
Baena grew up surrounded by Latin American culture. He spoke Spanish in the house with his mom and his four siblings. His Guatemalan culture had a huge impact on him. “That’s a huge part of me. My mom’s whole side is Guatemalan; we have a lot of Colombian family. Nearly everyone on that side is Latin American,” Baena later told Men’s Health.
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While Baena's early years were happy and joyful, the family lived humbly. But money would soon be the least of their worries—a secret was about to be revealed that would change Baena's life forever.
I am Your Father
Early on in his life, Mildred’s husband Rogelio left her. He knew something no one else seemed to know—Joseph was not his child. Rogelio and Mildred kept this secret until Joseph was around eight years old and started to resemble a certain California governor that owned the house Mildred worked in.
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“He started looking like me, that’s when I kind of got it. I put things together,” Arnold Schwarzenegger told 60 Minutes. At the time, he made sure the Baneas were taken care of financially. However, Joseph went about his life without knowing who his biological father was—until he was 13 years old. Following the end of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s run as governor in 2011, the lives of both the Baenas and the Schwarzeneggers were changed forever.
The Result of an Affair
Just one day after leaving office, news broke about an affair in 1997 between Schwarzenegger and his former housekeeper. The relationship resulted in a child—who, ironically, had been born just five days before the son born to Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver.
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And not long after the news spread, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger split. Not only did the infamous story take California by storm, but it also surprised Joseph Baena.
Finding Out
Baena went to school expecting it to be like any other middle school day, but when the news broke, his entire world was turned upside down. The memory is just as vivid today as the moment it happened.
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"I was in the eighth grade. Fifth or sixth period. And I get called out of class to leave. And my mom's there, and she's like, 'We gotta go — everyone is finding out about you and who your father is,” he told Men’s Health. Later that day, his grandmother sat him down to tell him who his father was. As if that wasn’t enough for a teen to process, Baena’s mom decided it would be best to leave California for a while.
Hiding Out
In order to avoid paparazzi and news reporters, Mildred took Joseph on an extended road trip out of the state. They headed to Texas, where family members of Mildred offered to host them as they avoided the mess back home.
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The mother and son acted as each other’s biggest support systems. They had each other’s backs, and despite being around family, Baena found it difficult to trust anyone around them. As two people in the middle of a huge scandal, they could only rely on one another, especially when their family started getting nosy.
