Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-Colorado) has had quite the run of stories linking her to former wrestler and commentator Stan Lane over the years. In 2021, David Bixenspan wrote a long piece for MEL Magazine exploring the case that Lane was Boebert’s father, referencing YouTube comments from the account of Boebert’s mother, Shawna Bentz, and paternity litigation dating back to the late 1980s. And the discussion has continued since then. But it came to an end this weekend, with The Daily Beast‘s Zachary Petrizzo reviewing a second set of paternity tests Lane took and adding a comment from Boebert herself:
“The Toby Keith song, 'Who's Your Daddy' hits a bit differently now.” https://t.co/QV0x4R4Lfb
— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) June 3, 2023
Some critical parts of that piece:
“I can confirm that Stan Lane is not my biological father. I personally have never publicly claimed he was my father—but certainly, that allegation is out there,” she told The Daily Beast, which reviewed the test results.
…Lane, who worked as a powerboat racing announcer after his wrestling career ended, issued a statement about the matter through a close friend to PWInsider.com, a wrestling news site, and to The Daily Beast.
“This situation and the numerous false claims made against me over the years has been stressful for me and my family,” he said. “I feel my otherwise good reputation has been tarnished considerably. I and other close members of my inner circle have been dragged into this as well.”
Why was a second set of paternity tests needed? The first set, from the 1990s, also indicated that Lane was not Boebert’s father. (He did admit to having an affair with Bentz, then known as Shawna Roberts, but denied the paternity claims.) But, as Bixenspan’s 2021 piece noted, Bentz raised questions about the accuracy of the first test, especially with a photo of Lane providing blood for it not supplied and with the phlebotomist who administered the test (Karen Weary) later convicted and sentenced to six months in jail for manipulating test results with an alternate donor in a different case.
This second set of tests doesn’t appear to carry any of that controversy, though, with Lane giving Boebert (seen above in March during the Conservative Political Action Conference) custody of his test sample immediately after it was drawn. And from Boebert’s and Lane’s sides, at least, this appears settled. Here’s more from that Daily Beast piece:
Boebert said they all agreed the results are bona fide: “It was kind of like ya, this is it, OK!” she said. “He has been wrongfully attacked, and he doesn’t deserve that.”
Lane sounded a weary note in his statement.
“I have also been followed by the news media so that they could get the scoop on this topic,” he said. “I ask that I be taken out of this equation since a conclusive result has been given to both sides.”
Lane was trained by Ric Flair and debuted in Championship Wrestling in Florida in 1978. He went to the Continental Wrestling Association in 1982, forming the “The Fabulous Ones” tag team with Steve Keim, then also worked in the American Wrestling Association (1984-86), Jim Crockett Promotions / World Championship Wrestling (1987-1990, including in “The Midnight Express” with Bobby Eaton and manager Jim Cornette), the United States Wrestling Association (1990-91), the then-WWF (1993-95, primarily as a commentator), and on the independent circuit until his 2008 retirement from the ring. But he’s been heavily back in the news around this Boebert story, and not in a way he would like, so it makes sense that he wants to be “taken out of this equation.” And this paternity test may do just that.
[The Daily Beast; photo from Jack Gruber/USA Today]
