When it was proven that the late reggae legend, Robert Nesta Marley was not the biological father of singer Fabian Marley, the world may have thought that the whole issue would have ended then and there. That, however, was not the case. The issue surrounding the paternity results of Fabian Marley is still in the spotlight and has taken a new twist, as fingers have been pointed at reggae industry insider Maxine Stowe and her client, reggae veteran Bunny Wailer, for fuelling the situation surrounding Fabian’s paternity.
In a recent post made to his Facebook page, Rohan Marley, son of the late reggae legend, named Stowe and Bunny Wailer as the driving force behind Fabian Marley and his ‘antics’. The post uploaded on January 13, showed Fabian in an apparent interview. In the video, the singer is heard ranting about the recent DNA revelations, insisting that the results were false. The video was uploaded with the caption, “Fabian lashes out due to the results about his real father Othneil Stanford. The truth is an offense but not a sin. ‘Jah go with him’ SELAH.”
The post attracted numerous comments, but one in particular, caught Stowe’s attention, as she was named as one of the persons who pushed Fabian to get a paternity test to prove he was Bob Marley’s son.
Stowe who replied in a follow-up comment, said, “Are you people off your rockers, where in these various stories has Bunny Wailer or myself been mentioned! Maybe It’s the Marley’s who sent him (Fabian) out there as a publicity stunt like Snoop Dogg Being Bob Marley!” Her reply sparked a response from Rohan Marley who accused Stowe of having a vendetta against the Marley family. “We sent him out there in a publicity stunt, wow… Why will they not speak the truth?”
When The Gleaner contacted Stowe to question her on the issue, she shut down the accusations saying that she nor Bunny Wailer did not push Fabian Marley to do anything. “When he (Fabian) first came to us (Bunny Wailer and myself) he already had a team of persons behind him who were helping him to get to the truth,” she said. “He already had his lawyers and numerous paperwork and revealed that he came to us because he was frustrated that his attempts at getting to the truth were going nowhere, because he was being refused matching DNA from the Marley family. We did not put him up to anything, he had a clear understanding of what he wanted and that was to prove his paternity.” She went on to say that she doesn’t understand why the issue has not been laid to rest now that the truth has been revealed. “I do not understand what the issue is now,” she said. “At the point where you have proven that you are or are not the father, then the thing should go to rest.”
Stowe believes that she was dragged into the whole saga because of her connections to Bunny Wailer and maintains that she has no personal vendetta against the famous family.
“I have nothing against the Marley family,” she explained. “My issue with this whole situation has always been with their reluctance to provide a DNA sample to match with Fabian’s. If you are positive that this man was not the son of Marley, then why did you allow this thing to drag on for three and a half years? Why not just provide the DNA sample and shut it down from the beginning. You are the ones that created this situation even more than Fabian, because at the point of contact, you could’ve erased the issue without it having to go this far.”
Though she denied putting Fabian Marley up to anything, Stowe revealed that she understands the singer and the mental space he must now be in.
“People don’t understand the toll this issue can have on a child,” she explained. It could be possible that he (Fabian) is living in denial, but just imagine how hard it must now be for him to come to grips with the truth.”
She, however, hopes that instead of judging him (Fabian), Jamaica and the world should understand what the revelation has done to his emotions.
“Fabian is not some crazy person,” she said. “He could have been anybody’s child with the rate at which the ‘jacket’ situation is evolving in Jamaica. He has invested years into believing it so, just imagine what kind of turmoil he’s going through having learnt Marley is not his father.”
The Marley family recently issued a statement on the matter stating that for years Fabian had refused to do a DNA test with an accredited forensics lab. A spokesperson for the Marley family said that the Marley family was pleased to now have the issue behind them.
“The Marley family is pleased to finally have this matter behind us. We have said repeatedly that this man who calls himself Fabian is not the son of Bob Marley. The tests now prove we were correct. We hope he can finally accept the truth of his own true heritage.”
A series of DNA tests conducted by Fabian’s manager, Clayton Thomas, proved definitively that Fabian Marley is the son of Othneil Stanford.
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