Sara Evans' estranged husband is leaving no stone unturned in his quest to level the playing field in their increasingly messy divorce proceedings.
Onetime U.S. Senate candidate Craig Schelske filed a 118-page motion Sept. 4 asking the Restless songstress to divulge all sorts of personal information, ranging from what sort of medication she takes to who she's supposedly been sleeping with.
A question which, according to Schelske, requires a lengthy answer.
In documents filed in chancery court in Williamson County, Tennessee, and obtained by E! Online, Schelske accuses Evans of having extramarital affairs with at least 11 people, including members of her band, members of the band 3 Doors Down, Dancing with the Stars partner Tony Dovolani, Richard Marx and Kenny Chesney. (Read the filing.)
Meanwhile, hardly anyone is commenting on this latest slew of allegations, including Marx's manager, 3 Doors Down's record label, and the warring couple's attorneys, who are bound by a gag order from divulging details to the media. A rep for Chesney called the charge "ridiculous."
The filing does not contain any evidence that those dalliances took place.
Pegged as a routine response to Evans' request to set a hearing for Sept. 28, Schelske's motion requests that Evans cop to the aforementioned alleged affairs and "admit the truthfulness and accuracy" of each of the following scenarios, among others:
- "...that you have had sexual relations [including what Bill Clinton would not identify as "sexual relations] with persons other than Craig Schelske during the course of your marriage to him."
- "...that you have had romantic involvement with persons other than Craig Schelske during the course of your marriage to him."
- "...that since the date of the filing of the Complaint for Divorce [Oct. 12, 2006], on one or more occasions per week you have consumed alcohol in the presence of one or more of your children."
- "...that during the course of your marriage, you have taken nude photographs of Mr. Schelske, with his consent, while in the privacy of your own bedroom." In her divorce petition, Evans accused Schelske of having porn on his home computer, including pics of him having sex with other women, and of not hesitating to look at it while their three kids were around.
He also asks her to:
- "Discuss in detail the romantic communication between you and Chesney. Include in your answer whether he sent flowers; expressed emotions of love and/or physical attraction; and whether the two of you communicated by cell phone or calls to your home, all unknown to your husband continuing to present."
- "List and/or describe each text message you sent and received to or from Dovolani including, but not limited to the 'I love you,' 'good morning darling,' which Schelske viewed the night before you filed for divorce and terminated Allison Clinton Lee." Evans had accused Schelske of having an affair with Lee, but she later excised the allegation from her divorce petition.
Per the filing, Schelske also wants Evans to turn over any records she might have of her conversations with a host of friends and colleagues, including country chanteuses Martina McBride and Chely Wright, as well as fellow Dancing competitors Mario Lopez, Willa Ford and Joey Lawrence.
Evans' camp didn't lose any time, filing a response to Schelske's massive motion on Tuesday.
The filing states: "In a communication to Wife on August 23, 2007, Husband states to Wife: 'I don't care about the interrogatories [sic] coming out and about you having to answer them. It won't matter anyway whether you answer them or not. The questions themselves will answer all the tabloids want to know. I don't care about draining every last dime and completely destroying your career.' "
Schelske filed a $20 million defamation suit against Evans' attorney, John Hollins, in April, claiming that Hollis made false statements to the press about Schelske's purported adulterous tendencies and other marital screw-ups when he said that they had photographs to back up all of the allegations Evans made in her divorce complaint.
Hollins "knew that no photographs existed which depicted the plaintiff engaged in any type of illicit or adulterous activity," the lawsuit states.
Lee has also sued Evans, Hollins and the attorney's law firm for $3 million, claiming that she was a victim of "slanderous and libelous" statements made when Evans, a former friend, first filed for divorce.
Schelske filed documents in February stating that the "Suds in the Bucket" singer admitted to him that she was "mistaken" about the existence of all those racy pictures.
(Updated Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2007 at 7:49 p.m. PT)