Mel B Gets Restraining Order Against Stephen Belafonte, Accuses Him of Physical Abuse, Sexual Extortion, and Impregnating Their Nanny: Report
Mel B is seeking protection from her soon-to-be ex-husband, Stephen Belafonte.
The America’s Got Talent judge, 41, filed for a restraining order Monday against the director, also 41, claiming extensive allegations of physical abuse, according to TMZ. She also alleges that her husband, whom she married in 2007, coerced her into threesomes with other women and is threatening to sell the tapes, which were recorded without her knowledge. In the papers, she goes on to say that he got their nanny pregnant and that she’s requesting he vacate their home and stay away from her and her three children. (They have one daughter together, Madison Brown Belafonte, 5.)
The onetime Spice Girl’s declaration in the filing paints a picture of a long history of physical abuse. One of the early dates was in November 2007, the night of her Dancing With the Stars finale. She said that as she was prepping for the show at her house, Belafonte tried to choke her and threw her to the floor. The singer, whose full name is Melanie Brown, says that was the abuse pattern — when she achieved a professional success, he would “beat me down to let me know he was in charge,” according to the report.
Belafonte has said he was “shocked at those allegations. I think someone’s trying to set me up to look like a bad guy.” He also cast aspersions on some of the details of the claims, especially an incident that brought Usher’s name into the mix. In July 2012, Mel was going to tape an X Factor segment with the R&B singer and that sent Belafonte into a rage, she claims. He reportedly punched her in the face, splitting her lip. And even though she has yet to film the bit with Usher, he yelled at her for deciding to “flirt with and f*** Usher.” Belafonte is on camera with TMZ saying that Usher wasn’t on the show, “so how’s that possible.”
Mel was also punched by Belafonte in August 2012 — the day after she performed at the Closing Ceremony for the London Olympics — she says. He later forced her to tweet that she injured herself by running on 7-inch Christian Louboutin heels.
Running in 7 inch louboutin no good!! I'm wearing prauge on my face!!! https://t.co/ofSSXZ4z
— Melanie Brown (@OfficialMelB) August 17, 2012
There are other shocking claims in her declaration, including:
She took an entire bottle of aspirin in 2014 after being overcome with “emotional and physical exhaustion.” When she tried to call 911, he blocked her, locking the bedroom door and saying, “Die b****.”
Stephen got their nanny pregnant. (Mel’s brother-in-law talked about his inappropriate relations with the nanny.) He suggested that the nanny have the baby and they all live together. He ultimately paid for the nanny to get an abortion, giving her in excess of $300,000 to cover up the situation.
Mel also said that he forced her to “participate in sexual intercourse with him and random women” and he would often secretly record the threesomes. He has since threatened to release the tapes to ruin her career.
Mel says Stephen has a gun in their home, which is illegal because he had a previous domestic violence conviction (related to another woman). Police did a raid over the weekend, but Belafonte wasn’t arrested indicating nothing was found.
Mel filed for divorce last month — just shy of the couple’s 10th wedding anniversary. She listed their separation date as Dec. 28, 2016, despite gushing about Stephen on Instagram on Feb. 6. She has not been on social media since the divorce filing.
For his part, Belafonte has expressed concern about how these allegations would affect their “beautiful amazing kids. Why do this? We were friends two weeks ago and now all of a sudden the team gets around and it’s gotta be this?” he said before getting in his car and driving off. “I guess someone’s making a lot of money off this, mainly the lawyers.”
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