He had been dating Jennifer Flavin for six years when Janice Dickinson broke the pregnancy bomb and said he was the father of her daughter.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on July 16, 2020. It has since been updated.
Hollywood for many years has been creating stories and movies that are looked upon with utmost sincerity by its audience. The romance, hate, war, peace, everything looks real. While they succeed in making the reel world real for us, some stories are never as perfect as the ones on the screen. One such story is of Sylvester Stallone and the time he thought he had a daughter.
It was 1988 when the Rambo actor saw Jennifer Flavin for the first time at a West Hollywood restaurant. Flavin who was just 19 years old then was trying to make it as a model in the industry. On the other hand, Stallone wasn't doing well in both his personal and professional front. But he later admitted that he's "loving life again” and that it was Jennifer who had "made all the difference.”
Stallone told People, "When we come together, it is wonderful. When we are separate, there are no strings attached. That’s the way it is. No strings." Flavin also was falling head over heels for the actor. She said, "I’d come over, and we’d watch a movie, cook dinner, goof around with the dog or walk on the beach."
All was well until another person entered the life of these love-birds, former supermodel, Janice Dickinson. Flavin and Stallone's six-year-long relationship came to an end with FedEx-delivered letter. Stallone could not gather up the courage to inform Flavin of his infidelity and decided on sending her a six-page handwritten letter.
Speaking about the incident she told People, "He sent me a six-page handwritten letter, in pen. It was pretty sloppy. I was disappointed. You can’t just write somebody off in a letter after six years. It’s not like I was going to try to beg him to come back to me or anything. I just wanted to talk."
In the letter was the reason behind the break-up. Dickinson was pregnant with her daughter Savannah and claimed Stallone was the father. Savannah, now 26, was given Stallone's surname as per the tradition. According to The Mirror, Dickinson in her 2002 autobiography, No Lifeguard On Duty revealed how she came to the conclusion of Stallone being her daughter's father.
Stallone's reaction was that of the doubt when he first heard the news. Explaining the situation Dickinson said, "'How do you know it's not Michael Birnbaum's?' he asked, to which she replied that he was the father. She said in her book, "Well, I didn't - in fact, it could even have been the artist's - but in all honesty, deep down, I felt the child was Sly's."
She also admitted that she had had relations with Stallone and an unnamed artist while she was with her then-partner film producer Michael Birnbaum and either one of them could have been the father. But she believed it was Stallone.
"Things hadn't been going well with Michael for some time, and we split up later that week when I came clean about Stallone," she revealed and continued, "But Sly didn't call, as I had expected him to, and a week later I discovered I was pregnant. I called Sly and went over to see him. We had supper and made love - he'd improved considerably since our brief debut. Then I told him I was pregnant."
Stallone stayed by Dickinson throughout her pregnancy and just a month after giving birth to Savannah she was ready to go back to work. "Six weeks after Savannah's birth in 1994, and with the help of Sly's exercise and vitamin regime, I got back in shape and walked down the catwalk for Versace," she said, as reported by The Daily Mail.
The couple had been engaged for six months but the results of the paternity test changed everything. "It was a great success - but as I walked down the runway for the final time, I realized Sly had left his seat. I found him back at our hotel. He didn't look happy," she revealed.
Dickinson painted a picture of Stallone's reaction to the news in her book. She wrote, "'She's not mine. I just heard from the DNA lab in Long Beach. Savannah's not mine. Send my regards to Mr. Birnbaum' - and with that, he stood up."
Stallone was clearly heartbroken after hearing the test results because he said, "'We had a good run, Janice. Say nice things about me and I'll say nice things about you.' And then he turned and walked out." Not only had Stallone lost the daughter he thought was his but he had also lost Flavin, the woman he adored, to be there for Savannah as her father.
The Rocky-fame star, 74, reunited with the love of his life, Jennifer Flavin, now 51, in 1995. The two tied the knot in 1997 and have been happily married for 22 years since. The birth of their three daughters, Sophia, 24, Sistine, 22, and Scarlet, 18 cemented their relationship even further.
References:
https://people.com/archive/rocky-ending-vol-41-no-16/
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/sylvester-stallones-agony-after-discovering-22321084
