In today’s society, superstar scandals are practically a cultural staple.
We find ourselves immersed in those ridiculous supermarket tabloids as we read the scoop about how that one actress lost all that weight so fast — was it depression? Drugs? The tabloids seem to know it all.
One of those tabloids, though, trumped the spotlight of that one bewildering separation with a story that has been the talk of the media world.
But, it raises a bigger question: What are we willing to do for our 15 minutes of fame?
Earlier this week, Justin Bieber became the next victim of scandalous onslaught after Star obtained an exclusive story from a young woman who asserts that he fathered her son, Tristyn Anthony Markhouse Yeater, who was born July 6.
Twenty-year-old Mariah Yeater told Star that the two had a brief sexual rendezvous in a backstage bathroom of the Staples Center after his Oct. 25, 2010, performance when Bieber was 16 and she was 19.
She filed a paternity suit, according to RadarOnline, that is to be heard in California Dec. 15.
According to TMZ, Bieber, who claims to have never even met her, is apparently not the first man she’s accused of being her baby’s father. She has another court date in December for battery after a physical altercation with her ex-boyfriend when he denied being her baby’s father.
Yeater’s lawyers stand by her accusations claiming that there’s substantial evidence that has yet to be made known to the media.
“There's credible evidence that supports (Bieber) is the father,” said Matt Pare, one of Yeater’s lawyers, in an interview on “Dr. Drew.”
Matt Pare, one of Yeater’s lawyers said on “Dr. Drew” that a paternity test is needed in order to confirm that evidence. It would also ensure that Bieber fulfills his “mutual obligation to support” the child so that he may be “at least raised in a comfy, middle-class standard.”
So, then, is money what is truly the issue at hand here?
According to Fox News, her court documents say she was on food stamps around the time of the concert — which she had front row tickets for. Fox News also reported that she never completed high school, hasn’t been employed since March of this year, and receives $500 per month of assistance.
If this is in fact an attempt to acquire money, it is already paying off. Yeater was paid an undisclosed amount of money for her story and picture of her son by “Star.”
This case is just another page in the book of sensational stories that we, average people, find our noses hidden in as we live vicariously through those who are the characters, the ones that become household names.
And because we are the generation who is too interested in things that hold no stake in our lives whatsoever, the chances that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Yeater is highly likely, which will come at a cost, of course.
Whether or not Yeater is lying can only be determined by a paternity test, which may be granted come December, and until then, she’ll continue to have her 15 minutes of fame — hopefully not at the expense of her own son.
Could this be the beginning of a new epidemic where people will begin utilizing the very things they find sacred to propel themselves into the spotlight?
After all, they do say that any publicity is good publicity.
Reach the columnist at alhaines@asu.edu
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