Journey guitarist Neal Schon is getting a couple of things he wants these days: An apology from the UK's Daily Mail and silence from his former Minnesota mother-in-law.
A blog posting by Judy Kozan, a former Waseca mayor and mother of Amber Schon, Neal's fourth ex, has resulted in the UK's Daily Mail publishing what the L.A. Times describes as an "unusually high-profile" apology on the Mail's homepage.
The apology reads:
"On 22 February we published an article about Journey guitarist Neal Schon and his fiancée Michaele Salahi, entitled 'Exclusive: Journey guitarist Neal Schon left ex-wife and daughters "so broke they can't buy food"... but he gave Real Housewives of DC fiancée $1 MILLION ring.' It claimed falsely that Mr. Schon was a deadbeat dad and repeated allegations that he had neglected his ex-wife and two young children, leaving them in such a precarious financial position that they have no money for food or bills and that their home would have to be sold. It also reported claims that Mr. Schon was a 'drunk and abusive man' who had become 'increasingly spiteful and vindictive' using his money to bully his ex-wife and that his fiancée Michaele Salahi had turned him against his former wife. We accept that these allegations are untrue and apologise to Mr. Schon, Ms. Salahi and the family for any distress caused. We have agreed to pay Mr. Schon and Michaele damages and legal costs."
Neal and Amber, who now lives in Excelsior with their two children, were married from 2001 until 2007.
When Neal first sued Kozan in March about the posting and a pattern of defamatory comments, Kozan told the Star Tribune that she didn't mention Schon or her daughter in her blog posting. Kozan blamed the British tabloid for creating the controversy by concluding that the unnamed man in her blog was Schon.
In another legal action, Schon maintained that he paid Amber more than $1.3 million over the past five years, but she hauled him back into court because he reneged on an agreement to extend her spousal support so she could complete studies for a teaching credential. A Hennepin County judge denied Amber's request for funds and noted that the money sought by Amber was plainly excessive.
Amber claimed monthly living expenses of $11,622, including $4,094 to maintain the home and $5,617 in personal expenses. Among the personal expenses were annual expense of $9,600 for eyeglasses, $9,600 for birthday parties, $7,200 for clothing, $5,760 for a storage locker and $2,400 for postage.
