Michaele Salahi

**Michaele Ann Schon** (nee Holt, formerly Salahi; born October 1, 1965) is an American television personality. She is best known for starring in the Bravo reality series The Real Housewives of D.C..

## Early Life

Schon was born in Oakton, Virginia to parents Howard A. Jr. and Rosemary Holt. She has one sister, Debbie and two brothers, Howard III and Glen Holt.

She attended King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania but did not graduate.

## Career

Schon was a front-desk employee at contemporary hit radio station WKRZ in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pennsylvania in 1989. She then moved to the Washington, D.C. area and worked at the make-up counter at Nordstrom in the Tysons Corner Mall in McLean, Virgina for most of the 1990s. In 2001 she was a make-up artist on the set of the "Lady Bird" episode of the PBS documentary series American Experience.

She 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. However, the Washington Redskins have publicly stated that she has never worked for them. She did perform with the Washington Redskins cheerleaders during the September 20, 2009 Redskins vs. St. Louis Rams game at a halftime event honouring the team's pom-pom alumni, although other cheerleaders questioned her dancing abilities.

In Florida, a polo magazine editor stated that the Salahis submitted pictures for a December 2008 article that identified Schon, then Salahi, as a "former Miss USA". No records exists of her winning the beauty crown.

In May 2011, she released the pop single "Bump It!" online.

### The Real Housewives of D.C.

In 2010, Michaele joined the cast of the Bravo reality television series for the first season. The show was then cancelled after this.

#### **RHODC Taglines**

* Season 1 - "People have a hard time saying no to me and that's just been my blessing."

## Personal Life

### Marriages and Children

Schon has been married twice. She married her first husband, Tareq Salahi on November 1, 2003. In September 2011, a missing-persons report for Michaele was filed by her then-husband, Tareq , but she later was discovered to have run off with Neal Schon, whom she had met earlier. The couple divorced on August 20, 2012.

She married her second husband, Neal Schon on December 15, 2013.

### Legal Problems

In June 2005, while he was a Senator, Barack Obama had posed for a photo with the Salahis and the Black Eyed Peas at the 12th annual Rock the Vote Awards Dinner atthe National Building Museum. The Salahis also breached the September 26, 2009, dinner for the Congressional Black Caucus, where the couple posed for photos with Rep, 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.

"The first the White House security detail knew of their blunder in allowing them into was when the couple posted photographs from the dinner on their Facebook page." 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. 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.

Secret Service director Mark Sullivan issued a statement on November 27 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."

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

## Family

**Husbands and Partners**

* Tareq Salahi (Ex-husband; 2003-2012)
* Neal Schon (Husband; 2013-present)

## Filmography

### Television

 2010
 2013