Real Housewives

Taylor Armstrong has sunk to a new low, according to her late husband's lawyer -- who claims the black eye photos she recently sold for 6 figures to E.T. are nothing but a shameless hoax.

The lawyer, Ronald Richards, tells TMZ ... the injuries depicted in the pictures were not inflicted by Russell.

According to Ronald, the injuries in the photos are either from plastic surgery ... or a recent incident involving a football to the face -- but not from domestic violence.

Richards tells TMZ, "If Mr. Armstrong was the cause of those injuries he would have been arrested and prosecuted." Richards also notes ... Taylor never filed a police report.

Sources close to Taylor insist the pics are legit -- claiming Taylor never reported any injuries because she was under enormous pressure to keep up appearances for the show.

It's hard to chose sides when you can't stand either one ... but that's exactly what you have to do now in the Tareq/Michaele Salahi divorce scandal. So we ask ....

Rio the Doberman Pinscher has become collateral damage in the bitter break-up between Michaele and Tareq Salahi.

TMZ has obtained video Tareq shot Tuesday morning -- hours before Michaele left the house for Tennessee to bang rock star Neal Schon.

In the first video, you see Rio -- who recently had a heart attack and only has a few weeks to live -- laying in bed with Michaele. As Tareq runs the camera, you hear Michaele proclaim her love for him.

The second video was shot Friday evening. Tareq says poor Rio is so depressed over Michaele's departure, he can't get out of bed.

Tareq Salahi has had his fill of humiliation ... we've learned he's filing for divorce.

TMZ may have jogged Tareq's memory a bit when he saw video of Michaele and her lover, Neal Schon kissing -- a video HE SHOT over Labor Day.

We've learned Tareq is telling friends he can never trust Michaele again and will never take her back, even though he believes she'll eventually tire of Neal and try to come back to him.

We've learned Tareq has already changed the locks on the family homestead and the winery.

Looks like Tareq did stop believin'.

It's the most tragically ironic video we've ever seen -- Tareq Salahi blissfully ignorant ... cheering on his wife while she plants a fat kiss on Journey guitarist Neal Schon, deep into their secret affair.

Neal's eyes tell the whole story -- it will make you squirm.

The clip was shot backstage at a make-up concert in Virginia on Labor Day weekend -- the show was originally scheduled for August 28th but was rescheduled due to Hurricane Irene.

Tareq is holding the camera ... and it's fair to assume he has NO IDEA what's secretly going on.

And FYI ... it was no accident the Salahis turned up at that concert -- sources extremely close to Michaele tell TMZ, she had been in close touch with Neal leading up to the show.

According to sources, Neal went so far as to send Michaele an extremely suggestive message just days before the show -- "I will be there on the 4th for a make-up date. Solo!!!! Can u?"

Apparently, the answer was yes. Don't tell Scotty.

Michaele Salahi's torrid affair with Journey guitarist Neal Schon was so passionate -- the two secretly promised to spend the rest of their lives together ... despite their respective marriages.

Michaele confided in one friend back in 2009 -- when her relationship with Neal had suddenly turned sexual -- "I remember crying so hard once when I told Neal I couldn't see him -- heartbroken. He was always the love I never knew where it would go."

Michaele explained, "We promised one another that we would [...] grow old together into our 80s and always love and be there for one another."

Michaele and Neal even sent sexually explicit messages to each other around that time -- in one message, Schon signed off, "xxxoooxxxoo Kiss, lick, and a nice stiff one 4 ya lol Neal."

But long before it became sexual, their relationship had been filled with suspense -- according to sources extremely close to Michaele, the secret lovers struggled to restrain themselves from the very moment they met in 1995.

And Michaele was determined to keep it all a secret the entire time -- telling Schon two years ago, "I didn't put [our pictures] up on Facebook ever to cherish you and keep you my secret. I love who you are too much."

Neal replied he would never have married his ex-wife in 2001 if he had known the full extent of Michaele's feelings -- but clearly, none of that matters now.

Tareq Salahi is telling friends, he feels "betrayed" by Journey guitarist Neal Schon, a trusted friend who has hooked up -- again -- with his wife, Michaele.

Tareq is saying he considered Neal and his band members "best friends." The band recently came to his winery in Virginia and played for free and even stayed with Tareq and Michaele.

And there's more. Two weeks ago, Tareq and Michaele went to a Journey concert in Virginia and hung backstage with Neal and a woman named Ava, whom Tareq believes is Neal's wife.

Tareq has been crying hysterically, saying he feels as if his life is over because Michaele is all he lived for.

TMZ has learned ... far from being kidnapped ... Michaele Salahi has run off with Neal Schon, the lead guitarist for the band Journey.

TMZ broke the story ... Tareq called authorities several times last night and today, claiming his wife has been abducted, because she left without taking her belongings.

But now we've learned ... Michaele (pictured above with Schon and her husband in 2010) has been dating the rock icon, went to his show in Nashville last night and is currently with Schon in Memphis, where Journey is set to perform with Foreigner.

Scoop Marketing, the rep for Journey, confirmed with TMZ that "Nobody kidnapped her and they are in Memphis together."

We've also confirmed Michaele has dated Schon in the past -- seen above partying at the Salahis' winery last year -- and she's called it an "intimate and passionate relationship."

Michaele Salahi was NEVER abducted ... so say police in Virginia ... who claim Michaele has contacted law enforcement and told them she DID NOT want her husband to know where she was.

The Warren County Sheriff's Dept. just released a statement saying one of their deputies spoke with Michaele .... and "She seemed calm, was engaged in conversation, and assured the deputy that she had left the residence with a good friend and was where she wanted to be."

The WCSD adds, "Mrs. Salahi advised that she did not want Mr. Salahi to know where she was."

Cops say Michaele expressed she was "very sorry" that the Sheriff’s Office had to be involved, but "she did not want to be home right now."

The WCSD says officers have made contact with Tareq and "advised him that he had spoken with Mrs. Salahi and told him that she was fine."

Still, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office says it is working with the FBI "in an attempt to make additional contact with Mrs. Salahi to assure her well being."

But clearly, Tareq isn't convinced -- because he just gave a tear-filled interview to NBC (video below), insisting, "I swear to God ... this is not a joke."

"Real Housewives of D.C." star Tareq Salahi believes his wife Michaele Salahi was abducted in Virginia yesterday ... but he's afraid the cops aren't taking the situation seriously ... TMZ has learned.

TMZ just spoke with Tareq ... who tells us he last saw Michaele at their home around 11 AM ET yesterday ... right before he left to go to their winery. Tareq says Michaele told him she was going to get her hair done -- but she never went to the appointment ... and she's been missing ever since.

Tareq claims he got a phone call from Michaele late last night ... from an unfamiliar Oregon cell phone number ... and she told him she was going to her mother's house, located minutes away from the Salahi home.

Tareq says he was suspicious -- so he called Michaele's mother ... who told him she hadn't spoken with Michaele and was unaware of her plans. That's when Tareq -- fearing Michaele had been abducted -- called the Warren County Sheriff's Dept. for help.

It ain't just Whole Foods that has an issue with the ingredients in Bethenny Frankel's Skinnygirl Margarita -- now, a class action lawsuit has been filed against the company that owns the brand.

In the suit, filed in federal court in California, Reneta Bonar claims she and many other people have been duped by Beam Global Spirits for making "deceptive statements" on the label of Skinnygirl.

According to the lawsuit, Beam advertises the drink as "all natural" -- and claims it contains no preservatives. But Bonar says it's all BS because the drink contains a preservative called sodium benzoate.

Skinnygirl was recently yanked off the shelves at Whole Foods -- after the market decided the drink was not using all natural ingredients.

Bonar is suing to force Beam to "engage in a corrective advertising campaign" ... and pay unspecified damages.

Beam has issued a statement saying, "In today's litigious society, nothing is surprising. The litigation filed in relation to the labeling of Skinnygirl Margarita is frivolous. We will defend our case vigorously, and we are fully confident we will prevail."

Taylor Armstrong and the L.A. County Coroner both agree -- Russell Armstrong's death does NOT appear to be the result of a murder.

The L.A. County Coroner's Office released Russell's toxicology results moments ago -- and Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter insists, all evidence surrounding Russell's death points to a tragic suicide.

Winter also tells TMZ, he has just advised Taylor of the results and the "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star concurs ... it appears her husband killed himself.

But as we previously reported, Russell's family disagrees, insisting someone else is responsible for his death -- and they're even putting a private investigator on the case.

According to the toxicology results, neither alcohol nor drugs were found in Russell's system at the time of his death.

The L.A. County Coroner released Russell's official cause of death last month -- suicide by hanging.

Russell Armstrong's family isn't buying suicide as the cause of death ... they believe he was murdered, and they're putting a private dick on the case.

Although the L.A. County Coroner ruled Russell's death was a suicide by hanging, sources close to the situation say the family is convinced ... Russell's money problems caused him to get involved "with the wrong people." They believe Russell may have screwed someone over out of desperation and that person or persons retaliated by killing him.

We're told the family is in the process of hiring a private investigator.

Three "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" are VERY UPSET with people who blame the show for "playing a major part" in Russell Armstrong's suicide -- saying the finger-pointing is simply "not fair."

Lisa Vanderpump, Adrienne Maloof, and Kyle Richards all appeared on "Today" this morning -- where they spoke out against the criticism ... and claim they're taking the "high road" in the tragedy.

Taylor Armstrong confessed on the season premiere of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" ... that she and Russell Armstrong were engaged in intense couples therapy before his suicide last month.

During a dinner convo about the therapy sessions Taylor blurts out, "We're knee-deep into so much psycho-therapy that I'm sick of myself."

Things got really heated when Lisa Vanderpump's husband said, "If I had to go to see a therapist to make my marriage better, I would feel weak."

Bravo aired a 4-minute segment prior to the episode ... where the entire cast -- minus Taylor -- talked about how Russell's death has affected them (video below).