Title: “Unveiling the Controversy: Clark Gable and Loretta Young’s Love Child”

In a recent bombshell accusation, it has been suggested that Clark Gable, the legendary Hollywood actor, may have date-raped actress Loretta Young, leading to the birth of their famous “love child.”

However, skepticism surrounds this claim, as it emerges amidst the Bill Cosby scandal and nearly four years after the death of Gable and Young's daughter, Judy Lewis.

Judy Lewis, in her best-selling memoir published in 1994, had previously claimed that she was conceived during a consensual affair between her parents while they were shooting the film “The Call of the Wild” in Washington state in 1935.

It wasn't until an authorized biography was released after Young's death in 2000 that she publicly acknowledged secretly “adopting” her own daughter to avoid scandal and protect both her and Gable's careers.

(Lewis was Gable's only child born during his lifetime, as his son was born four months after his death in 1960.)

According to Anne Helen Peterson's extensive article on Buzzfeed, Young disclosed to her daughter-in-law, Linda Lewis, two years before her death that no intercourse occurred during their time on location but rather on a train journey back to Hollywood.

Young had never spoken about the specifics of what happened until decades later when she asked Linda to define “date rape,” and then revealed that it had occurred between her and Gable.

While it is not to be doubted that Young shared this information with her daughter-in-law and a potential biographer, who never wrote about it for unknown reasons, it is reasonable to question the motives of an 85-year-old actress who went to great lengths to conceal the circumstances surrounding her daughter's birth due to shame.

To gain perspective, film historian Robert Matzen, known for his book “Carole Lombard and the Mystery of Flight 3,” was consulted.

Matzen highlights that “The Call of the Wild” director William A. Wellman wrote in his autobiography about some inappropriate behavior between Gable and Young, which he had asked Gable to stop.

Additionally, 15 years later, Young, an Oscar-winning actress, chose to work with Gable again on another film called “Key to the City.”

Matzen suggests that Young's supposed ignorance of the term “date rape” contradicts her sophistication and intelligence, as she orchestrated the secret adoption process and consistently denied Gable's paternity throughout her life.

Film historian David Stenn, known for his biographies of Jean Harlow and Clara Bow, as well as his documentary “Girl 27” about a notorious rape case involving a Hollywood dancer, offers a more complex response.

He refers to the new account as a “film historian's nightmare” and believes that it is entirely possible that Young's version is accurate.

However, he also suggests that Catholic guilt may have caused her to reframe the narrative later in life.

Stenn emphasizes the tragic and unjust attitudes towards women during that era, with Young bearing the shame of premarital s** and the burden of pregnancy.

He reveals that Judy Lewis once told him, “You are my mortal sin.”

Rumors surrounding Judy Lewis' parentage were prevalent even before the publication of her book in 1999.

Young skillfully evaded questions about her affair with Gable in a rare 1986 interview with Entertainment Tonight but was more forthcoming in an interview with Gregory Speck for Interview magazine the following year.

In this interview, she spoke affectionately of Gable and their love, acknowledging that they fell in love and had Judy, despite him being married.

Young praised Gable's gentle and tender treatment of women in his films, including the famous love scenes in “Gone With the Wind.”

The true intentions and knowledge of Young during these interviews remain a mystery.

Was she putting on a performance for the interviewer?

Did she recognize the controversial nature of Gable's character in “Gone With the Wind”?

Perhaps, more importantly, was Young still in denial about an unpleasant truth from her past?

Unfortunately, we can never be certain.