LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) — Actor-comedian Eddie Murphy publicly acknowledged on Friday having fathered a child out of wedlock with Spice Girls singer Melanie Brown, who brought a paternity suit against him earlier this week.A brief statement issued by Murphy’s publicist said the 46-year-old star of “Dreamgirls” and the “Beverly Hills Cop” movies “always has and will continue to honor his responsibilities as a father.”"Mr. Murphy and Ms. Brown dated very briefly and never made any plans of ANY sort,” the statement said. “He acknowledges paternity of the child Angel, and has paid child support to Ms. Brown as well as covering the expenses of her pregnancy.”

The statement concluded by saying Murphy “views this as a private matter, and as such, will not be making any further comments about it.”

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Melanie Brown aka Scary Spice with Eddie Murphy

I used to have such high regard for Eddie Murphy, and enjoyed all his movies, but this latest episode with Scary Spice has really lowered that regard.

They dated briefly, but what does that mean? Brief enough to have some sexual activity and fathered a child, apparently!

Why did it take a court suit and a paternity test before he acknowledged that he was the father? What a jerk!