Featured Image Credit: Instagram/@joebaena
Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Celebrity, Money, Parenting
Niamh Shackleton
Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Celebrity, Money, Parenting
Arnold Schwarzenegger's son Joseph Baena has spoken out about his dad's decision to not help him fund his life after college.
Joseph is the son of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mildred Baena - the former housekeeper for the Schwarzenegger family.
The Terminator star had an affair with Joseph's mom during his marriage to Maria Shriver.
In his Netflix documentary released last year, the actor reflected on lying about the affair and Joseph, as well as making everyone in his family 'suffer'.
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Arnold later helped fund Joseph through college, however, the 26-year-old revealed his dad - who has a net worth of $1 billion, as per Forbes - stopped financially supporting him after he graduated.
He went on to open up on how it affected him.
Joseph first started properly getting to know his father in 2010 and after college was following in Arnold's footsteps into the world of acting and bodybuilding.
However, appearing on the UNWAXED podcast back in 2022, Joseph shared that he went down quite a different career path immediately after leaving college to financially support himself after Arnold cut his funds.
He said: "I’m really grateful that my dad helped me get through college. But right when college was done, it was just like, 'You go. You’re on your own'. I was like, 'Oh, s**t'."
Joseph continued: "So yeah, I needed a job, and I was not getting any of the acting roles that I thought I was going to get, and like starting to get paid.
"I was like, 'I need to do something', so I started interning at this real estate company."
Arnie's son took up a gig at Los Angeles realty firm ARIA Properties and he actually enjoyed it more than he first thought he would.
"I went in there. I was like, 'I want to just learn as much as possible while making some kind of income'," he said. "And then I enjoyed it and was like, 'Oh, I think I can do this pretty well'. So, I got my licence."
From the looks of Joseph's Instagram page, he still works at the firm.
Joseph first found out Arnold was his dad when he was in high school.
In an interview with Men's Health, he noted he 'remembers the day very vividly'.
He recalled at the time: "I was in the eighth grade. Fifth or sixth period. And I get called out of class to leave. And my mom's there, and she's like, 'We gotta go - everyone is finding out about you and who your father is'."
Despite the drama and Arnold no longer helping fund his life, this isn't the reason why Joseph decided not to take the Schwarzenegger name.
He previously told Inside Edition: "Well I already have a last name, and I don't have a problem with my last name."
"I like my last name," Joseph added.