LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Arnold Schwarzenegger has reportedly been pleading with his children to stop cutting their half-brother Joseph Baena out of the family. The 25-year-old Baena is the result of Schwarzenegger’s affair with his family's former housekeeper, Mildred Baena. Up until 2011, Schwarzenegger and Mildred kept their relationship secret from his wife Maria Shriver, who is also mother to their four kids — Katherine, Christina, Patrick, and Christopher.
In late May, the 75-year-old action star walked the red carpet for his new action-comedy series ‘Fubar’ with his daughters Katherine, 33, and Christina, 31, as well as Katherine's husband Chris Pratt. Schwarzenegger personally invited Joseph to attend the premiere but his daughters did not want to be near their half-brother. “To be honest, the other kids don’t love Joe. It’s a shame as he’s a really good kid, and Arnold has always treated him like all his other kids — very fairly. But for whatever reason, the other kids take [the affair] out on Joe," a source close to the family told Page Six.
'Arnold doesn’t want to punish Joseph for something terrible he did'
"Arnold is really close to Joe. I’ve been at several events where he’s brought him along," the tipster continued. They went on to claim that Joseph is shunned by his half-siblings, adding, "It’s not fair, but I guess it’s understandable — he’s the product of something that should not have occurred. The Schwarzenegger kids have consistently navigated the situation with respect and class,” the source further stated.
Now, another source told Radar Online that the ‘Terminator’ star is taking steps in a desperate bid to reconcile his kids. “Arnold doesn’t want to punish Joseph for something terrible he did,” said a source close to the situation said. These claims came after Schwarzenegger detailed the shocking moment when he “crushed” his ex-wife Shriver’s heart by revealing he was the father of Mildred’s son, Joseph. In the upcoming three-part Netflix documentary “Arnold,” he said Shriver confronted him in 2011 through their marriage counselor regarding his parentage.
“How do you keep this quiet”
“One day, the counselor said, ‘Today Maria wants to be very specific about something. She wants to know if you’re the father of Joseph’. I thought my heart stopped. And then I told the truth. ‘Yes, Maria. Joseph is my son’. She was obviously crushed by that,” he said according to the Sun. Additionally, Schwarzenegger said in the documentary that he first believed Joseph was the child of Mildred's first husband, Rogelio. “In the beginning, I really didn’t know, but the older he got, the more it became clear to me. It was then just a matter of, ‘How do you keep this quiet?’” he noted.
The shocking revelation forced Schwarzenegger and Shriver's marriage to end in 2011, 25 years after tying the knot in 1986. Their divorce was finally finalized in 2021. “I have caused enough pain for my family, because of my f***-up. Everyone had to suffer. Maria had to suffer, the kids had to suffer, Joseph, his mother, everyone. I’m going to have to live with that for the rest of my life,” he said, adding “People will remember my successes and they will also remember my failures. I’ve had failures in my career but this was a whole new dimension of failure. I am very happy within this sad story that Maria and I were able to raise the kids well."
