Sammy Hagar Faces Appeal in Defamation Case

Former Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar is facing an appeal in a defamation case brought against him by a former Playboy bunny, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen. A judge recently ruled that Hagar didn't defame the woman when he accused her in his 2011 memoir, Red: My Uncensored Life In Rock, of falsely naming him as the baby's father in order to extort money. The judge noted Hagar didn't mention the woman by name and that she failed to prove the book injured her.

The woman, from Waterloo, Iowa, claimed that she and Hagar had an affair and that she became pregnant with his child, who died shortly after birth in 1989. No paternity tests were ever conducted.

Hagar denied in his book that he was the father and questioned whether she ever gave birth, although he agreed to pay her during the pregnancy -- a total of around $7,000 -- as long as she did not go public with her claims.

The woman filed her lawsuit shortly after Hagar's book came out, claiming he defamed her, violated her privacy, intentionally inflicted emotional damage and breached their 1989 confidentiality agreement.