The legal drama surrounding Journey guitarist Neal Schon and his ex-wife Amber continues.  TMZ reports that the veteran rocker has now initiated a defamation lawsuit against his former spouse's mother, Judy Kozan, whom he says has "attacked and harassed" him via the Internet and frequently made false statements about him to the press.  He's seeking at least $75,000 in damages.

According to TMZ, the lawsuit claims that Judy posted a blog back in January in which she called the 59-year-old musician a "deadbeat dad."  The message accused Neal of not shelling out enough support payments to Amber, thereby putting her "in a situation where she literally has no money for food, gas for the car, bills, nothing," and of letting the one-time couple's two young daughters "go homeless."  The post later was taken down by Kozan and replaced with a note in which she said her "deadbeat dad" accusations were not true.

Schon insists that he's given a substantial amount of financial support to Amber, in excess of $1.3 million, and says Judy's fallacious statements about him have adversely affected his reputation.  A Journey rep tells ABC News Radio that Neal has no further comment regarding the lawsuit.

Last month, TMZ reported that a Minnesota judge had denied Amber Schon's request to have Neal's monthly payments raised from $3,000 to $5,758.90.  In making his ruling, the justice also was critical of Amber, saying her request was "intended primarily to upgrade her own standard of living."

Amber was Neal's fourth wife; the couple was divorced in 2007.  In October, he got engaged to reality star Michaele Salahi, who's in line to be the sixth Mrs. Schon.

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