White House party crasher sues wife for $50M (AP)

FRONT ROYAL, Va. ? White House party crasher Tareq Salahi has filed a $50 million lawsuit against his wife, claiming she had an affair with Journey guitarist Neil Schon as part of a calculated attempt to make money for herself and the band at his expense.

The lawsuit filed Monday in Virginia said Michaele Salahi's actions have ruined him "physically, emotionally and financially." Tareq Salahi accuses her of running away with Schon in September and "campaigning to show him as a buffoon with respect to that affair and humiliating him," according to the Northern Virginia Daily (http://bit.ly/y8WRHZ).

The Salahis married in 2003, but are going through a divorce.

Attorneys for both of the Salahis would not comment.

The couple gained notoriety in 2009 when they crashed a White House state dinner. Michaele Salahi was a cast member of the reality show "Real Housewives of D.C.," but the show was canceled after one season. She was thrown off the reality show "Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew" when it became apparent she wasn't addicted to anything.

The lawsuit said the Salahis aimed for public attention and large sums of money through joint appearances on television shows such as an Australian version of "Dancing with the Stars" and "The Real Housewives of D.C."

"The Salahis, through their concerted efforts, held themselves out not just as husband and wife but as business partners and further, a brand," the lawsuit said. "They wrote a book together, made countless appearances together and were essentially inseparable in both their personal and business lives."

Tareq Salahi said his wife left him for Schon, a former boyfriend, as part of another business venture.

"Journey was currently touring the country and the concerts were not selling out," the complaint states. "Having been involved in the reality television business for several years, the defendants knew that a public affair would generate interest in both of them and immediate income for Neal Schon and Journey."

A telephone message left with Nomota Inc., Journey's business name, was not immediately returned. An email for DD Entertainment LLC, the publicist and agent for the Salahis and now working for Schon and Michaele Salahi, was not immediately returned.

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Information from: Northern Virginia Daily.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120216/ap_en_ce/us_gate_crashers_lawsuit

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