Sammy Hagar Sued for Defamation Over Tell-All Memoir

Sammy Hagar's recent memoir 'Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock' was praised for holding nothing back -- "absolutely nothing," as one review noted -- in its retelling of the Van Halen singer's life. But did it reveal too much? According to WCFCourier.com, a woman in Waterloo, Iowa, has filed a lawsuit against Hagar, claiming that the book breaks a legal agreement the couple hatched over a baby he allegedly fathered in the late '80s.

In the breach of contract and defamation lawsuit filed Wednesday in an Iowa county court, a woman dubbed "Jane Doe" in court documents claims that she had no advance notice of the book, that she wasn't notified that personal information about her would be included and that by publishing it, Hagar broke a confidential agreement he made to support the woman during the pregnancy. Her name was not included in the book nor in the 1989 agreement.

In 'Red,' Hagar claims he met a former Playboy Bunny in Detroit who later claimed she was pregnant with his child. He alleges that she used the unborn baby as leverage to extort him for child support. "Obviously, it wasn't my baby, and [the woman and her lawyers] knew it," Hagar wrote. "They just extorted me as long as they could." The woman currently is a resident of Iowa, but claims she lived elsewhere during at the time.

A paternity test was planned following the birth, but the baby, identified in court documents as Dylan, died before the test could be conducted, the lawsuit claims. In 'Red,' Hagar wrote that he believed the woman never gave birth to the baby and that she may have had an abortion.

In a March 2011 interview about 'Red,' Hagar said, "Spreading around some of the trash of my life wasn't the reason for writing the book. I mean, yeah, those things did happen. I can't lie and say they didn't. But sleaze wasn't the predominant idea ... I know that sounds trite, but I'm living proof that you can do anything if you just keep at it. So, in that way, it's an uplifting success story. I made sure to keep the tone inspirational while, at the same time, 100 percent factual."