Here's The 15 Worst Celebrity Deadbeat Dads Who Ruined Their Kids

Becoming a father may be easy enough but it is being one that counts. Real fatherhood means love, commitment, sacrifice and a readiness to share accountability and not walking away from one's children - right? Well, you'd think so! Let's face it, the world is far from ideal and so are a lot of fathers. From absentee dads to abusive ones, they come in varieties and by the score. And at a time when dysfunctional parenting is spreading like wildfire, we can hardly expect Hollywood to be far behind. Tinsel town has more than its fair share of epically bad celebrity dads, most of whom can hardly acknowledge and love their kids without pretending that they don't exist!

However, a chat on bad dads might appear somewhat incomplete if we do not recall the original deadbeat pa - Lot. This biblical character is by far one of the earliest and creepiest examples of fatherhood gone terribly wrong - he drunkenly slept with each of his daughters, and their offspring became the patriarchs of Moab and Ammon - if that can be of any solace! But as good luck would have it, not many in the glamour world can match up to him, although here are 15 of the worst layabout pops, who can come a close second in ruining their kids.

15 Better Late Than Never: Michael Lohan's Confession On LiLo

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Better known as Lindsay Lohan's father, American television personality Michael Lohan is not just an alcoholic and [substance] addict but he is also the man who can be held single-handedly liable for LiLo's spiral into dysfunction. He refused to pay child support and pimped his teenage daughter into the entertainment industry for his own benefit. He has been investigated on several accounts including insider trading and was even convicted of criminal contempt of court. However, in an interview last year, he did choke up and accept, “We were… are responsible for what Lindsay did, the path that Lindsay took… And it breaks my heart to think that. She suffered because of the way I acted.” Not that it changes anything though!

14 Mathew Knowles: The Father Who Stole From His Daughter

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An embarrassment of a man, Mathew Knowles has not only been accused of having several affairs - including one that produced a lovechild, who he has effectively overlooked - but was also blamed for stealing money from his world-famous daughter by none other than Beyoncé herself. He was of course hooted out from her management team after the court ruled in the lady's favour. Queen Bey and Mathew have always embodied a rather rocky father-daughter relationship. Her childhood was speckled by bursts of his absence - he had fleetingly left her mother Tina when Bey was just two months old - and had returned only to ensure that his overbearing management leads Beyoncé along the success route in show-business. However, despite the lawsuit, the “Destiny's Child” singer maintains that she has an affectionate relationship with her father that has only improved ever since they stopped working together.

13 Caitlyn Jenner Didn't Make A Great Father, But She May Be A Better Mother

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The 67-year-old transwoman has recently admitted to being a bad parent to her children and regretted not being there for them during their shaping years. Olympian Bruce Jenner may have posed as a fine father figure to his kids with Kris Kardashian, but not so much for his son Brody, who is still known to be holding a grudge. However, the newly-changed Caitlyn Jenner confessed to BBC that she was so focused on coming to terms with her gender identity that she hardly had time for Brandon, Brody, Bert and Casey Jenner - all of whom were very young at the time. “I was struggling with myself too much to be a good parent,” she said, adding: “I can't use that as an excuse because no matter what your problems are, you gotta be there for your kids, and I really wasn't… ”

12 The Awful Truth About MJ's Father

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He may be the patriarch of the most famous family in music history but he is more known for being tremendously abusive and cruel. Joseph Jackson amassed one of the greatest music groups of all time rearing not just Michael Jackson but also Janet Jackson, and in doing so he used his tyrannical means to thrash his children into submission. Unsurprisingly, his relationship with Michael was not a very pleasant one. During an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Joe Jackson admitted to hitting his children with a strap. “I don't [regret the beatings],” he said, adding, “It kept them out of jail and kept them right.” But that's not all. After Michael's heart-rending death, he requested that his son's estate cover his living expenses of $26,000 per month, despite being left off the will.

11 In Alec Baldwin's Mind, His Daughter Is A "Thoughtless Little Pig"

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In 2007, Alec Baldwin made headlines when he called his then 11-year-old daughter, Ireland, a “thoughtless little pig” for missing his phone call. But, that was before he went ahead and stated that she didn't “have the brains or the decency of a human being.” What more, he didn't stop there. After rebuking his own flesh, Baldwin then had his rep issue a statement to the press, blaming his former wife Kim Basinger for instigating his vicious verbal behaviour. He also said that the actress was “pathologically incapable of keeping her mouth shut.” Later, in a televised interview with David Letterman, the Beetlejuice actor happily declared that he would be more than willing to toss his daughter (Ireland) into a volcano!

10 Arnold Schwarzenegger's Secret Lovechild

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The Terminator was peacefully oblivious to the lovechild he had fathered with his housekeeper Mildred Baena until a few years ago. Their son, Joseph too was unaware of the fact that Arnold Schwarzenegger was his father. As a teenager, he would spend time with Schwarzenegger's wife Maria Shriver and her four children even as his mother worked as their housekeeper. But with time, Joseph's resemblance to his daddy became more and more noticeable as did the star's secret allowance for Mildred, in the hope of keeping the deal under wraps. However, Arnold came clean about the affair to his wife a little after he stepped down as the California governor. Nevertheless, the real embarrassment proved to be the information that the boy was born just five days after Arnold's youngest son Christopher.

9 Charlie Sheen's Parenting Woes

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Charlie Sheen has a long-winding history of mayhem with the mothers of his children as he does with numerous other women - from charges of domestic violence to multiple drug-fuelled rants, he is a classic example of bad parenting. He tried to expel his ex-wife, Denise Richards and two daughters from the house that they live in because it's owned by him. During their divorce in 2005, Richards filed a restraining order against The Two And A Half Men star, claiming, “I can no longer accept [Sheen's] abusive and threatening manner and must stop him from the cycle of his abuse towards me and our children and his continued threats of violence and statements that he is going to kill me.” In 2011, his third wife Brook Mueller also won a restraining order against Sheen and his young sons were removed from his home.

8 Woody Allen: Meet The Father Who Married His Adopted Daughter

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Here's a relationship that has scandalised a greater part of the world for generations to come. Woody Allen may be a filmmaker par excellence but that does not change the fact that he did once take nude pictures of, and then went on to marry his adopted daughter, Soon Yi-Previn. The two began their relationship when Allen was dating long-time partner Mia Farrow with whom he adopted several children. And, Previn just happened to be Farrow's adopted daughter from her failed marriage with composer André Previn. Allen who was 56 at the time, dill date maintains that it was his previous parent-child relationship with Previn that makes their marriage work. The director told NPR: “I am 35 years older, and somehow, through no fault of mine or hers, the dynamic worked. I was paternal. She responded to someone who was paternal.”

7 How Eddie Murphy Lost The Paternity Battle

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When Mel B claimed that Eddie Murphy was the father of her child, the comedian vehemently denied. He was then forced to take a paternity (DNA) test, which proved that he was. But, that didn't stop the father of eight from living in denial either - perhaps the Shrek actor had absolutely no plans of being part of her life any time soon! Nevertheless, after their daughter Angel was born, Mel B tried to reach out to Murphy for years but there was no response from his end. She told MailOnline: “I encouraged their relationship from day one. And I didn't really hear anything for a few years.” However, things are different now and Murphy does take time out to meet his daughter, but mostly behind closed doors.

6 When Edward Furlong's Six-Year-Old Tested Positive of [Substance] After Day Out With Papa

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A former child star and possibly the most memorable actor to have slipped into the shoes of John Connor in the Terminator film series, Edward Furlong owed over $15,000 in child support payments to his former wife Rachael Bella Kneeland. Fed up with his ways, Kneeland had also attempted to terminate phone contact between their son Ethan, and Edward, after he told Ethan that she was a “dragon” and called her new boyfriend a wimp. A notorious self-admitted [substance] addict, Furlong has reflected, over the years, an unhealthy pattern of drug abuse arrests, alcoholism and court cases. However, the worst accusation against him came back in 2012, when Kneeland claimed that their six-year-old son tested positive of [substance] after a visit to his father.

5 More Hamburgers For David Hasselhoff?

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The former Baywatch has been struggling with alcohol for quite some time but his embarrassing behaviour got to hog the limelight only after a home video recorded by his daughter Taylor Ann, was leaked online - and if it wasn't so exorbitantly funny, it would be really sad! The clip shows a shirtless Hasselhoff lying on the floor in a drunken stupor - sloppily trying to shove a hamburger into his mouth. His daughter is seen pleading with him, asking him, “Tell me you are going to stop.” Though Hasselhoff later explained his sorry behaviour and said that Ann taped him only to show him how he behaved while intoxicated, he was far from learning a lesson - because only a couple of years after, his other daughter had to call 911 to report Hasselhoff's drunken antics.

4 Jude Law And His Accidental Babies

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Jude Law is known as quite a great father when not taking into account his demeanour towards his accidental babies. The three children he shares with his former wife Sadie Frost are unlikely to ever find out the step-treatment he has on offer for his fourth - the illegitimate child born out of a one-night stand with a model that he conveniently denied having! However, as a paternity test proved otherwise, The Young Pope actor did come forward to take up responsibility for the support of his daughter, Sophia, and the baby's mother Samantha Burke, though he happens to forget about them in public time and again. And, now that he has become a father for the fifth spell, credits to his former singer-girlfriend Catherine Harding, we can only wait and watch how close the baby comes to getting her father's attention.

3 Bobby Brown And His Part In Kristina's Death

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The American singer, songwriter, dancer, actor and rapper was more or less a jack of all trades except for fatherhood. Famously married to the late Whitney Houston for 15 years, Bobby Brown became more known for his drug and alcohol abuse than his manifold capacities. His destructive behaviour got the better of his daughter Bobbi Kristina when she succumbed to combined drug intoxication in 2015 at the tender age of 22. And, Brown's history of skipping out on his child support payments may have only added to Bobbi's upbringing as a disturbed adolescent. The singer even served prison time for neglected payments on several occasions, counting once in 2007, when he spent three days in a county jail for owing nearly $20,000 in child support and court fees to his ex, Kim Ward.

2 Peter Graf Was "Papa Merciless"

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A car and insurance salesman by profession, Steffi Graf's father may have taught her how to play tennis at the age of three but he had also rightfully earned the nickname “Papa Merciless” for his hard-nosed habits. He took charge of everything in her life - from protecting her from reporters to handling her finances - Peter was a man of absolute authority. He pushed his daughter way too hard and was known to force Steffi to practise immediately after and before long flights. He was also accused of verbally abusing officials, manipulating Steffi's schedules to preserve her ranking and coaching her illegally from the stands. Too add to that, he even set up front companies to avoid paying tax on his daughter's multi-million dollar tennis income for years before he was caught withholding $7.4 million from tax authorities.

1 Selfish Fathers Be Like Francois Henri-Pinault

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It comes as a surprise when a billionaire is accused of “sitting back and paying zero” towards child support but then again the world is a weird place and magnates like Francois Henri-Pinault do exist, who supposedly don't care two dimes for the children they father. The accusation against Pinault, who is now married to Salma Hayek, came from his former wife, supermodel Linda Evangelista, during a mucky divorce row, who also claimed that the tycoon demanded that she have an abortion. Further during the proceedings - as details of Pinault's lavish spending came to light - it was also revealed that he did not buy their son, Augie, a birthday present until Evangelista complained. He confessed to having spent $260,000 on luxury watches for himself even as he struggled to remember what he bought Augie for his fourth birthday.