By IANS
Vancouver : The claim by an American businessman living here that he was the love child of John F. Kennedy has been rebutted by his mother’s family in Texas.
Jack R. Worthington, who moved from the US to live in Saanich on Vancouver Island some time ago, created international headlines Feb 10 when he told the local Globe and Mail that he was the illegitimate son of JFK.
But Friday, his mother’s family told Vanity Fair, which initially followed the story for 18 months before deciding against printing it, that Jack’s claim was “unequivocally false”.
In their statement, the family said: “It is our understanding that Jack R. Worthington Jr. has made the statement that he is the son of John F. Kennedy and that his mother, Mary Evelyn Worthington, was introduced to president Kennedy by Lyndon B. Johnson.
“It is the position of the family that the above statements are unequivocally false and have been fabricated by Jack R. Worthington Jr. for reasons unknown to his family.
“Mary Evelyn Worthington has never met John F. Kennedy or any other member of the Kennedy family. Further, Mary Evelyn Worthington has never met Lyndon B. Johnson. Jack R. Worthington Jr. is the natural born son of Jack R. Worthington Sr. and Mary Evelyn Worthington. Mary Evelyn Worthington has never had any conversation with Jack R. Worthington Jr. concerning this subject.”
Jack had told the Globe and Mail that his mother was introduced to JFK by Lyndon B. Johnson and he was born a year before his assassination in 1963. He also claimed he lived with JFK briefly and that people often passed remarks about his JFK-like looks.
He said he came to know about his paternity in 2006 when he asked his mother if he and his sister could also suffer from a genetic disorder that afflicted his biological father.
Jack said he was stunned to hear that JFK was his real father.