Ex-Wife of Houston Astros Owner Apologizes for Viral Video

Franci Neely, the ex-wife of the owner of the Houston Astros, has released an apology after she was caught on camera yelling at a family doing a photo-shoot with their one-year-old daughter.

On February 16th, a couple were having pictures taken for their daughter's first birthday in a neighborhood popular among photographers. Halfway through the session, a woman identified as Franci Neely, a Houston socialite, pulled up to the family in her car and began yelling at the parents, saying they were trampling on grass she pays for. There has been an on-going debate between the local Home Owner's Association and the city over the ownership of the area, with the city saying the area is public right-of-way.

Kelyn Alyssa, the mother of the child having pictures taken, posted a video of the altercation on Facebook, along with their side of the story, saying that there were several other similar photo shoots going on in the area, and Neely was acting aggressively towards the parents as well as their child,

The Monday after the incident, Neely issued a statement to ABC13:

The Broadacres Homeowners Association Invests lots of money paying to maintain the trees, grass and walkways in our neighborhood. The high volume of commercial photography damages the property that Broadacres HOA pays to maintain and interferes with dog walkers and others who merely want to walk under the pretty trees. We asked the commercial photographers to please stop.

I am very sorry that I got upset on late Saturday afternoon. Putting it in context, however: I saw three commercial photography shoots in one block at the same time, something that happens frequently. When I explained the situation to the first and third groups, they were respectful. The couple whose photo shoot obstructed the walkway was not. It's hard to remain composed when confronted by shouted threats of lawsuits and false, inflammatory accusations.

A week after the incident, Neely released a video apology on YouTube, asking for forgiveness:

Comments for the video have been disabled.

No word yet if Neely has apologized directly to the child's parents, but the parents have filed a police report.