No, Michael Jackson Isn’t Bruno Mars’ Dad

Michael Jackson, legendary as he was as the King of Pop, wasn’t the most the popular dad in showbiz. Ever since the Berlin baby-dangling incident of ’02, the media has tirelessly and unfairly portrayed him as an irresponsible and detached father (before his death, Jackson had shown remorse for the incident). This depiction was unfortunately fueled by his own erratic behavior during the final years of his life, and the sexual abuse charges that chased Jackson a few years before his death certainly didn’t help with his image.

This week, social media went crazy over a “news” article that had been circulating Facebook and Twitter like wildfire. An article published by Empire News entitled, “DNA Results Confirm Michael Jackson Is Biological Father Of Bruno Mars,” has unsurprisingly shocked and enraged fans of both singers across the internet.

The story went on to detail how the Billionaire singer allegedly and inadvertently revealed where he got his singing genes. The article wrote that the discovery involved Mars’ firing of a certain Vladimir Kershov, the singer’s reported publicist.

“Vladimir Kershov, publicist of R&B singer Bruno Mars, has been fired today after he revealed a shocking secret regarding the pop and R&B singer. Kershov leaked private information that revealed that Michael Jackson is Mars’ biological father.”

Gullible netizens went insane over the Michael Jackson-Bruno Mars story, not realizing that Empire News, an Onion-like website (without the funny), publishes mostly “satirical” and made-up articles. Fact-checking website Snopes has since labelled the story “false”.

According to Bruno’s Wikipedia page, the half-Filipino singer was born to Peter Hernandez and Bernadette Bayot in 1985 and was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Meanwhile, Michael was, at the time, not involved with anyone, although he was already beginning to form a relationship with future-wife Lisa Marie Presley.

While Jackson was often portrayed as a bad dad in tabloids, he was, in reality, an amazing father to his kids Michael Jr, Paris and Prince. Shortly after his death, MTV revealed never-before seen correspondence with people closest to Michael, most of whom attested to the fact that the singer was a caring and loving dad to his children. Producer and Jackson’s friend Teddy Reily recalled, “Michael] read them a book every day. When we were in Virginia during the Invincible [sessions], there was not one day missed reading the children something. So that showed me right there that he was an incredible father.”

In other news, Michael Jackson’s brothers continue to celebrate his musical legacy through various performances around the world. Inquisitr recently reported about the brothers’ upcoming UAE concert, which is set to be attended by thousands of fans.

[Image Via fanpop.com and obladoo.se]