Journey continues to make headlines thanks to the ongoing legal issues between guitarist Neal Schon and keyboardist Jonathan Cain. The latest issue involves Cain’s wife, televangelist Paula White-Cain.
In a cease-and-desist letter obtained by the New York Post, Schon accuses White-Cain of having access to various Journey bank accounts. The letter states, in part, “We have learned that despite the prior mutual agreement between Mr. Schon and Mr. Jonathan Cain that the business of the band and the Journey Related Entities would be handled only by Mr. Schon and Mr. Cain as individuals, your name appears as an authorized signatory on the City National Bank accounts of Freedom JN LLC.”
Additionally, the letter states, “We further demand that you immediately cease and desist and refrain in the future from inserting yourself in any business of the band and any legal entities used by the band as this contradicts the existing agreement between Mr. Schon and Mr. Cain.”
White-Cain’s access to Journey’s bank accounts was reportedly recommended by Schon’s legal reps according to her attorney Alan Gutman. He said White-Cain had had access to these accounts since 2020. Gutman detailed in a statement to the New York Post, “Neal’s attorney recommended Neal and Jonathan own their respective 50% interests in the band’s operating entities through their personal trusts. Paula is a co-trustee of Jonathan’s personal trust, therefore, Jonathan and Paula signed as the co-trustees of Jonathan’s personal trust. But that never would have happened if Neal’s lawyer had not recommenced it.”
RELATED: Jonathan Cain Says Neal Schon is ‘Destroying the Journey Brand’
This is, of course, the latest legal issue with Journey. However, there’s an interesting connection considering White-Cain served as a spiritual advisor to President Donald Trump. As previously reported, Schon’s legal reps sent a cease-and-desist letter to Cain’s legal reps taking issue with the keyboardist performing “Don’t Stop Believin’” at a November 2022 gala event hosted at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla. This event took place over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. It featured Cain performing the Journey hit and being backed up on vocals by a number of people. Among those people were Marjorie Taylor Greene, Kimberly Guilfoyle and Kari Lake.
Schon said, in part, in his cease-and-desist order, “Although Mr. Cain is free to express his personal beliefs and associations, when he does that on behalf of Journey or for the band, such conduct is extremely deleterious to the Journey brand as it polarizes the band’s fans and outreach … Mr. Cain has no right to use Journey for politics. His politics should be his own personal business. He should not be capitalizing on Journey’s brand to promote his personal political or religious agenda to the detriment of the band.”
The Mar-a-Lago performance came shortly after the two Journey bandmates made headlines following Schon filing a lawsuit against Cain. This lawsuit centers around an American Express credit card that reportedly belongs to Nomota, the LLC Journey uses for its business dealings. Schon alleges Cain has been in control of the credit card and has denied him access to it and its records. Cain says Schon has always had access to the credit card and accused Schon of using the card to make large personal purchases.
