Valerie Bertinelli Denies Being Van Halen’s “Yoko Ono,” Says David Lee Roth Is Behind That Sentiment

Right now, Valerie Bertinelli is in the process of promoting her new book, Enough Already: Learning to Love The Way I Am Today. A big part of that book is her relationship with her ex-husband Eddie Van Halen, who tragically passed away in 2020. Now, Valerie has addressed the idea that she caused the band’s split with singer David Lee Roth — though she does make it clear that Roth was the member of the band who disliked her.

During a recent appearance on Rob Lowe’s podcast ‘Literally! With Rob Lowe,” Valerie discussed how dynamics changed within Van Halen once she got together with Eddie (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):

 “After Ed and I became involved, all of a sudden there was this rule that there was no girlfriends and no wives allowed on the road.

“I got along great with Al [Van Halen, drums] and with Mike [Anthony, bass]. It was someone else. I don’t know why he didn’t like me, but what are you gonna do? I don’t know why he didn’t like me. I mean, I was always nice to him. I honestly don’t know.

“One day I’d like to sit down with him and go, ‘Dude, what did I do? Honestly, I’ve always been a fan of yours. I think you’re a brilliant frontman, I think you’re a brilliant songwriter, I love your lyrics. Why don’t you like me? What did I do?’” 

Rough.

Obviously, I don’t know Bertinelli, David Lee Roth, anyone involved in Van Halen, or even Rob Lowe, so take what I say with a fist-sized grain of salt, BUT: this sounds unsurprising. David Lee Roth has never come across to me as a dude who’d let anything or anyone cramp his good time, and having his high-flying guitarist in love with a pretty face certainly might do that. Then again, maybe Bertinelli was Lady Macbeth behind the scenes. What do I know?

Listen to the full interview below: