Keanu Reeves Was Taken To Court After Woman Claimed He Was The Father Of Her Children

Celebrity | Movies

Keanu Reeves Was Taken To Court After Woman Claimed He Was The Father Of Her Children

Getty

It's not every day that a celebrity and an average Joe get together, but when they do, we get super excited to know the details on how they met and fell in love.

Surprisingly, one of our favorite Hollywood heartthrobs hasn't had the best luck when it comes to relationships.

He dated Jennifer Syme in the late 90s, who got pregnant with his child. Eight months into the pregnancy, Syme gives birth to a stillborn baby girl.

This devastated the couple, leading to their break up. A few months later, Syme died in a car accident, and since then, things haven't been the same for the actor.

"Grief changes shape, but it never ends," he told Parade Magazine in 2006.

"My parents split up when I was young and I've seen nothing to recommend marriage," he said many years ago, defending his reason why he won't get married.  

The now 53-year-old actor has kept his short-term romances a secret, but the biggest secret may be that he fathered four children in Canada.

The allegations didn't seem too far-fetched at first. Reeves grew up in Canada, and in the same province the woman said to have met him.

However, that's not something we'd expect someone like Reeves to do: leave a woman and their four kids struggling to grow up without a father, like his father did to his family.

The Canadian woman filed a paternity suit to order Reeves to provide a DNA sample, claiming he used hypnosis and disguised himself during the time they were together...

Paternity Suit

In 2010, the paternity suit was heard by a judge in the province of Ontario. According to CTV News, Karen Sala from Barrie was seeking $3 million a month in spousal support and $150,000 a month in retroactive child support.

"I do know for a fact that he is the biological father," Sala, representing herself in court, told the judge.

Sala claimed that she met Reeves at a local McDonald's and No Frills grocery store, but she also said that she had known him since she was a child. She also claimed that he promised to marry her and take her to the Academy Awards.

Sala alleged that the actor would phone her local food bank telling them to not give her and her children food. The picture she paints of this alleged relationship is nowhere close to what we know of Reeves. The allegations were so bewildering that even the judge couldn't take it seriously...

Final Decision

Keep in mind, Reeves left Toronto to go to Hollywood in 1986. Also, Sala declined to have her ex-husband get a DNA test or bring her children's birth certificates to court.

When the DNA results came back, showing that the actor is not the father of any of her four children, who are between 21 and 25 years old, Sala still believed that he used "hypnosis to affect the results."

"The applicant's evidence is so incredible that it is not capable of acceptance by any reasonable trier of fact," Judge Fred Graham said. "A trial in this case would be a waste of limited judicial resources."

As for Reeves, he described the paternity lawsuit as a "horrible" experience, but decided not to sue Sala.

If Maury for celebrities existed, this case would definitely make the cut.

How crazy is this story?

Moojan has been a writer at Shared for a year. When she's not on the lookout for viral content, she's looking at cute animal photos. Reach her at moojan@shared.com.