The ex-wrestler once thought to be Lauren Boebert's dad says his image has been 'tarnished considerably' from being linked to her

• The former wrestler Stan Lane has proven via DNA tests that he isn't Rep. Lauren Boebert's father.
• Lane said his reputation was "tarnished considerably" by Boebert's mother's claim in the 1980s.

A former wrestler once considered to be Rep. Lauren Boebert's father said that being linked to her caused his "otherwise good reputation" to be "tarnished considerably."

Boebert's mother, Shawn Roberts Bentz, has claimed for years that Stan Lane, a retired professional wrestler with whom she had a fling in the 1980s, was the congresswoman's biological father.

However, Lane took two DNA tests which proved that he was not related to her, and told the Daily Beast that "this situation and the numerous false claims made against me over the years has been stressful for me and my family."

"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," he told the Daily Beast in a statement.

He said that he hoped media outlets would stop following him.

"I have also been followed by the news media so that they could get the scoop on this topic," he told the Daily Beast. "I ask that I be taken out of this equation since a conclusive result has been given to both sides."

Lane, 69, did his first paternity test in 1990 after Bentz claimed he was Boebert's father and attempted to get child support from him.

Although the results proved that he was not genetically linked to Boebert, news later revealed that a lab worker in charge of the paternity test had meddled with the sample of an unrelated NFL player who also did a paternity test, the Daily Beast reported.

This cast doubt on the validity of Lane's test results.

The Daily Beast reported last month that Lane had agreed to another paternity test and had given Boebert the physical copy of the DNA sample to erase any doubts.

In a statement sent to the Daily Beast, Lane said: "The results came back on May 11, 2023. They were conclusive that I had a 0.0% chance of being the biological father."

Boebert told the Daily Beast that the results were accurate and good enough to put the matter to rest.

"It was kind of like ya, this is it, OK!" she told the outlet. "He has been wrongfully attacked, and he doesn't deserve that."

Lane said that he accepted Boebert's apology on behalf of herself and her mother for the decades of accusations. He told the Daily Beast: "If she continues the search for her biological father, I hope she finds the answers she has been looking for."

Representatives for Boebert and an associate of Lane's did not immediately respond to requests for comments sent outside of regular business hours.