Journey guitarist Neal Schon accuses ex-mother-in-law from Waseca of libel
Former Waseca Mayor Judy Kozan is being accused of libel in a new federal lawsuit filed by her ex-son-in-law, Journey guitarist Neal Schon, the Star Tribune reports.
In the suit filed Monday in Minneapolis, Schon accuses Kozan of libeling him in blog posts that reportedly suggest that he has failed to support his ex-wife, Amber, and their children, Aja and Sophie.
Schon, one of the founding members of Journey, married Kozan's daughter in 2001. The couple divorced in 2007.
According to the Star Tribune, Kozan, 63, claims that she didn't mention Schon, 59, or her daughter, 33, in the blog posts, and blames the British tabloid The Daily Mail for creating the flap by incorrectly concluding that Schon was a deadbeat dad.
The Daily Mail article, posted in February, is no longer available on the publication's website.
Kozan said Tuesday in the Star Tribune that she "never called him a deadbeat dad" and "never accused him of not making his payments," saying he "makes them religiously."
She also noted that she doesn't have the money to deal with a lawsuit.
Schon, on the other hand, claimed in his lawsuit that Kozan has "attacked and harassed" him for years on Internet postings and media comments.
According to the Star Tribune, Schon claims the final straw came in a Jan. 23 blog post, where his ex-wife's mother allegedly describes an anonymous woman who filed for divorce from an equally anonymous "abusive man."
The lawsuit reportedly points out that a Hennepin County family court judge recently found that the musician has exceeded his required payments to his ex-wife and two children.
Schon's marriage to Amber Schon was his fourth marriage, and he's now engaged to Michaele Salahi, a reality personality from the cable show "Real Houswives of D.C."
Salahi is also known for crashing a White House dinner with her then-husband, Tereq, in 2009.
See a video report from CelebTV on the child support controversy below.
