Long before she became TV’s no-nonsense courtroom queen, Judge Judy Sheindlin was handing down real-world rulings in New York Family Court. And on July 14, 1989, she presided over a case involving a rock star who had no idea he was standing in front of a future celebrity.
Welsh singer Tom Jones, then 49, had just come off decades of hit records and swooning fans when he found himself answering to Judge Sheindlin in a paternity suit filed by a 27-year-old model from New York. After a brief affair at a Manhattan hotel two years earlier, the model had given birth to a son—and paternity tests proved Jones was the father.
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Sheindlin ordered the suave crooner to pay $200 a week in child support to Katherine Berkery, the mother of his son, Jonathan Jones Berkery, born in 1988. Though Jones acknowledged the child after the ruling, he reportedly never developed a relationship with him. It’s believed the two have never met, despite Jonathan’s public appeals over the years.
At the time, Judy Sheindlin was far from a household name. But just seven years later, in 1996, Judge Judy would premiere—turning her into a pop culture icon known for her sharp wit and uncompromising rulings. The show ran until 2021 and became one of the most-watched court shows of all time.
Turns out, the man once ruled by Judge Judy wasn’t the only legend in the room that day.
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