Michaele Salahi

Michaele Ann Schon
Salahi in the White House in 2009
Born	Michaele Ann Holt (1965-10-01) October 1, 1965 (age 59)
Occupation	Television personality
Known for	2009 U.S. state dinner security breaches
Spouses	Tareq Salahi ​ ​ (m. 2003; div. 2012)​ Neal Schon ​ (m. 2013)​

Michaele Ann Schon (born Michaele Ann Holt; born October 1, 1965), formerly Michaele Salahi, is an American television personality and model.^[1][2] In 2010, she was a cast member on the reality show The Real Housewives of D.C. She and her then-husband, Tareq Salahi, gained national attention in November 2009 by breaching security to attend a White House state dinner in honor of India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.^[3][4]

Early life and education

Schon was born October 1, 1965, the daughter of Howard A. Holt Jr. and Rosemary (née O'Malley) of Fairfax, Virginia. She has three siblings, a sister Debbie, and two brothers, Howard III and Glen. She attended, but did not graduate from, King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.^[5][6]

In 2000, Michaele met Tareq Salahi at a baby shower, and they married three years later, in 2003, in a ceremony at Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington, D.C. The guest list included 1,836 guests, including Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and former U.S. Ambassador to Ireland Margaret Heckler. The wedding, originally scheduled for October 2002, was postponed several times, prompting Kennedy to quip that he needed to issue "subpoenas" to the bride and groom.^[4][5][7]

Career

Schon was a front-desk employee at contemporary hit radio station WKRZ in Freeland, Pennsylvania, in 1989.^[8] She then moved to the Washington metropolitan area, where she worked at the make-up counter at Nordstrom in Tysons Corner Center in McLean, Virginia, for most of the 1990s.^[9] In 2001, she was a make-up artist on the set of the "Lady Bird" episode of the PBS documentary series American Experience.^[10]

Schon has claimed to be a former Washington Redskins cheerleader; she has also claimed to have been featured in numerous television spots, was the face of Virginia.org's Wine Getaways ad campaign, and has also claimed to have been a featured model in various magazines.^[4][11][12] However, the Washington Redskins have publicly stated that she has never worked for them.^[13] She performed with the Redskins cheerleaders during a game in 2009, although other cheerleaders questioned her dancing abilities.^[14]

In Florida, a polo magazine editor stated the Salahis submitted pictures for a December 2008 article that identified Schon, then Michaele Salahi, as a "former Miss USA." No record exists of her winning that beauty crown, pageant officials said.^[15] In 2010, Michaele was one of the featured housewives on Bravo's The Real Housewives of D.C.^[16] In May 2011, she released the pop single “Bump It!” online.^[17][18]

2009 White House state dinner security breach

Main article: 2009 U.S. state dinner security breaches

In June 2005, while he was still a U.S. Senator, Barack Obama posed for a photo with the Salahis and the Black Eyed Peas at the 12th annual Rock the Vote Awards Dinner at the National Building Museum.^[19] The Salahis also breached the September 26, 2009, dinner for the Congressional Black Caucus, where the couple posed for photos with U.S. Representatives Chuck Rangel and Star Jones, then were asked to leave by security. On the December 2, 2009, Today Show, they claimed they were given tickets to that event by the Gardner Law Group, but caucus spokeswoman Muriel Cooper refuted that claim.^[20]

"The first the White House security detail knew of their blunder in allowing them into [the November 24, 2009, state dinner] was when the couple posted photographs from the dinner on their Facebook page."^[21] Invited guest Brian Williams, anchor of the NBC Nightly News, observed the Salahis' SUV being turned away from the East Gate entrance. After that, he saw the Salahis and crew leave their vehicle and walk to the White House. They entered through two security checkpoints; only one of them checked for photo ID.^[22] The White House on November 27 released photos of the couple posing with President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and other celebrities in attendance.^[23]

On November 27, 2009, Secret Service director Mark J. Sullivan issued a statement, saying that the Secret Service was "deeply concerned and embarrassed by the circumstances surrounding the State Dinner". Sullivan's statement also pointed out that "the preliminary findings of our internal investigation have determined established protocols were not followed at an initial checkpoint, verifying that two individuals were on the guest list."^[23]

Representative Peter King, a Republican of New York, wrote a letter to the United States House Committee on Homeland Security requesting an investigation into the incident.^[23] The Secret Service also considered criminal charges against the Salahis.^[24] Michaele Salahi was requested by the committee to appear at a hearing on December 3, 2009, but she refused to attend.^[25]

Divorce, engagement and marriage to Neal Schon

In September 2011, a missing-persons report for Michaele was filed by her then-husband, Tareq Salahi, and she was later was discovered to have run off with Neal Schon, a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the rock band Journey, whom she had met earlier. The couple divorced on August 20, 2012.^[26]

On October 14, 2012, Schon proposed to Michaele onstage during a charity concert at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore, Maryland, offering her an oval 11.42 carat diamond engagement ring.^[27] The marriage was Michaele's second and Schon's fifth.^[28]

The couple married on December 15, 2013, in a pay-per-view ($14.95 for three hours) wedding that was broadcast live from the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.^[29] On December 1, 2015, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors agreed to a settlement that would pay Neal and Michaele $290,000 in response to a lawsuit that had accused the city-county government of improperly permitting the wedding's organizers to increase their fees after learning of the pay-per-view arrangements.^[30]

In popular culture

In the opening segment of the December 5, 2009, episode of Saturday Night Live, Kristen Wiig portrayed Michaele as an interloper who got on stage at a Barack Obama speech in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and posed for various pictures behind the President with her husband, Secret Service agents, and Vice President Joe Biden. At one point, they asked the President to stop his speech and snap a group shot of all of them.^[31]

References

1. "Reality Tea". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
2. "Tommy's Paints the Town- Orange | OhMyGoff". ohmygoff.tv. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
3. "Feds: Couple crashed Obama's state dinner". November 26, 2009. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
4. Corbin, Cristina (November 26, 2009). "Who Are the White House Party Crashers?". Fox News. Archived from the original on April 3, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
5. "HOLT-SALAHI OCTOBER WEDDING". Archived from the original on December 1, 2009. Retrieved November 27, 2009.
6. (1) "Obituary". Scranton Times-Tribune. August 17, 2008.
   (2) Delazio, Sheena. "'Unwanted' White House guest has area ties". Scranton Times-Leader. Archived from the original on December 5, 2009. Retrieved December 3, 2009.
7. Arundel, John (December 5, 2007). "Feud Ends: McLean Realtor Buys Oasis Vineyard". Fairfax County Times & WTOP-FM.
8. "White House gate-crasher Michaele Salahi once worked in radio". radio-info.com. December 11, 2009.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
9. Keatinge, Libby (November 28, 2009). "EXCLUSIVE: White House Crasher Faked Being A Washington Redskins Cheerleader". The Scandal List. Archived from the original on December 4, 2009. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
10. "Lady-Bird". New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2009.
11. Argetsinger, Amy; Roberts, Roxanne (November 26, 2009). "Reliable Source: Tareq and Michaele Salahi crash Obamas' state dinner for India". The Reliable Source. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
12. (1) Rodgers, Andrea (November 26, 2009). "Tareq and Michaele Salahi: Sari Behavior".
    (2)Shapira, Ian (November 5, 2008). "Tangles in the Vine: A Storied Va. Winery Is Up for Sale, but a Complex Family Dispute Has Confronted Potential Buyers". The Washington Post.
13. "Cheerleaders get fired up about Salahi", Washington Post, Thursday, December 3, 2009
14. (1) Olshan, Jeremy (December 1, 2009). "She's an im-pom-ster". The New York Post.
    (2) Farhi, Paul (December 3, 2009). "Cheerleaders get fired up about Salahi". The Washington Post.
15. (1) Tucker, Neely (December 4, 2009). "Virginia will probe Salahis' Polo Cup". The Washington Post.
    (2) "Scan of Polo Contacts Magazine featuring former "Miss USA Michaele Salahi"". Washington Post. December 3, 2009.
    (3) de Moreas, Lisa (December 4, 2009). "Donald Trump irked at Salahi's Miss USA claims". Washington Post.
16. (1) "The Real Housewives of DC Episode Guide: Season 1". The Real Housewives of D.C. Bravo. June 15, 2010. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
    (2) "The Real Housewives of DC". Pop Tower. Archived from the original on February 10, 2010. Retrieved November 26, 2009.
    (3) Argetsinger, Amy; Roberts, Roxanne (November 26, 2009). "'Housewives' Lynda Erkiletian, Mary Amons, Won't Come Clean". The Reliable Source. The Washington Post.
    (4) Cooper, Helene; Lorber, Janie; Stelter, Brian (November 26, 2009). "Network Cameras Followed White House Crashers".
17. "Michaele Salahi sings 'Bump It' on purpose, sexy-poses in a white bikini. No, really". LA Times Blogs - Ministry of Gossip. June 27, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
18. Yingling, Jennifer (May 12, 2011). "White House gate crasher Michaele Salahi's new pop song". TheHill. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
19. (1) Argetsinger, Amy; Roberts, Roxanne (December 1, 2009). "Salahi Facebook photo subterfuge? You decide". The Reliable Source. The Washington Post. Archived from the original on February 20, 2013.
20. Thomas, Pierre; Dwyer, Devin; de Nies, Yunji (December 2, 2009). "E-Mails Show Salahis Never Got White House State Dinner Invite From Pentagon". ABC News.
21. Whittell, Giles (November 27, 2009). "White House state dinner gate-crashed by reality TV wannabes". The Times of London. Retrieved November 28, 2009.^{[dead link‍]}
22. Argetsinger, Amy; Roberts, Roxanne (November 27, 2009). "Who are these people? The climbers at the gate". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
23. Horowitz, Jason; Roberts, Roxanne; Shear, Michael D. (November 28, 2009). "Secret Service apologizes for ticketless couple's access". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
24. Vanden Brook, Tom (November 27, 2009). "State dinner crashers could face criminal charges". USA Today. Retrieved November 28, 2009.
25. "White House Gate Crashers Refuse Congress Hearing". KDKA-TV. Associated Press. December 2, 2009.^{[dead link‍]}
26. Beck, Joe (August 21, 2012). "Salahi legal battles end amid courtroom sparring". Northern Virginia Dail. Strasburg, Virginia. Archived from the original on August 24, 2012. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
27. (1) Argetsinger, Amy; Roberts, Roxanne (October 15, 2012). "Michaele Salahi and Neal Schon get engaged — onstage, of course". The Reliable Source. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
    (2) Argetsinger, Amy; Roberts, Roxanne (October 15, 2012). "More on Neal Schon's engagement to Michaele Salahi: On-stage proposal and 11 carat diamond". The Reliable Source. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
28. The Reliable Source (October 3, 2013). "Michaele Salahi and Neal Schon set a wedding date". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
29. Argetsinger, Amy; Roberts, Roxanne (December 16, 2013). "Michaele Salahi and Neal Schon tie the knot — in a pay-per-view wedding". The Reliable Source. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 5, 2014.
30. (1) "Case 3:15-cv-00581-LB, United States District Court for the Northern District of California: Neal Schon, Micheale Schon, and N&M Productions, Inc., Plaintiffs, vs. City and County of San Francisco, Philip Ginsburg in his individual and official capacity, Dana Ketcham in her individual capacity, and Diane Rea in her individual capacity, Defendants" (PDF). San Francisco Examiner. February 6, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 13, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
    (2) Sabatini, Joshua (November 10, 2015). "'City by the Bay' to settle Journey's Neal Schon lawsuit for $290K". San Francisco Examiner. Archived from the original on December 13, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
    (3) "San Francisco approves $290,000 payout for Journey wedding". AP News. Associated Press. December 1, 2015. Archived from the original on December 13, 2015. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
31. "Obama Afghanistan Cold Open", Saturday Night Live, December 10, 2009

External links

• Facebook page
• Twitter feed
• Tareq & Michaele Salahi wedding video
• Oasis Winery
• Official Guest List for White House State Dinner
• White House Party Crashers - photo slideshow by The Huffington Post
• Loudoun Times-Mirror (Va.) report on the Salahis
• Washington Post article on Salahis' problems