Spice Girl Mel B claims her estranged husband punched, choked, berated and sexually exploited her — and got their nanny pregnant.
The former girl band member, whose real name is Melanie Brown, detailed the alleged abuse in a bombshell court filing that won her a temporary restraining order Monday against Stephen Belafonte.
She said Belafonte's brutal attacks often coincided with her career success,
such as her finale on "Dancing with the Stars" and her judging work on the UK and Australian versions of "X Factor."
http://goto.target.com/c/insert your mpid here/99528/2092
Brown, 41, said it was shortly after she placed runner-up on the fifth season of "DWTS" in November 2007 that Belafonte — her husband of only five months at that point — pounced on her minutes before a live television interview.
Mel B addresses domestic abuse rumors
"He was in a rage and I had no idea why," she wrote in her statement. "He placed both of his hands around my neck and began choking me. He then slammed me down onto the hardwood floor."
http://goto.target.com/c/insert your mpid here/174066/2092
She said Belafonte punched her with a closed fist in July 2012, causing her lip to split and swell, after she and recording artist Usher taped a promotional segment in New York for the Australian version of "X Factor."
She said Belafonte accused her of triggering his furor by flirting with Usher and threatened to release sex tapes if she reported him.
"He told me that no one would believe me because everyone thinks I'm crazy. He called me a 'f---ing monkey,' told me I was dumb and said that I was a 'derelict,'" she wrote.
Mel B reportedly files for divorce from husband Stephen Belafonte
Mel B shows a picture of a bruise in a tweet from 2012. She alleges in 2017 that her husband Stephen Belafone hit her and forced her to tweet out a picture about falling in heels.
The violence continued to escalate, she claimed, with Belafonte allegedly punching her in the face with a closed fist and pushing her facedown on a carpet after she performed with the Spice Girls at the London Olympics in August 2012.
"My face actually scabbed over the rug burns," she wrote. "Because the injuries were so obvious, and because the media had snapped pictures of me with the facial injury, (Belafonte) forced me to 'tweet' out that I injured myself by running in 7-inch Christian Louboutin heels," she wrote.
She said Belafonte's "mind games" and violence became so overwhelming she attempted suicide in December 2014.
"In a moment of emotional and physical exhaustion, I took an entire bottle of aspirin," she said. "I immediately regretted the action and tried to call 999 (England's version of 911), and (Belafonte) blocked me from calling for help."
She said he locked her in a bedroom without a phone and told her to "die bitch!"
"Each time I could pry the door open and try to squeeze out, (Belafonte) would slam the door on my head," she claimed. "I kept telling him that I wanted to get my stomach pumped and I begged him to let me out."
Mel B lands in Sydney with a bandage on her face following a fall in Prague, which she wrote was because of falling in heels, but later alleged was the result of her husband hitting her.
"I was giving birth as a single mother, my self-esteem was very low and my hormones were out of balance due to the pregnancy," she wrote.
She said Belafonte recognized her weakness and used kindness as his way of "grooming" her for marriage.
Brown said he later hired a "quite beautiful" 20-year-old exchange student from a small town in Germany as their nanny and began sleeping with the young woman.
In the Spring of 2014, Belafonte told Brown the nanny was pregnant with his child and he wanted to have the baby with everyone living under the same roof, Brown wrote.
"I was shocked and in disbelief," she said. "(Belafonte) later demanded that Lorraine have an abortion."
She said he paid the young woman $300,000 for three years of nanny services without her consent.
"If I objected to participating, he would threaten to release compromising videos of me," she wrote.
Attempts to reach Belafonte were not immediately successful Tuesday.
In an interview with TMZ.com, he claimed he was hearing the accusations for the first time and was "distraught" and worried about how they might affect their daughters.
Brown has two daughters from previous relationships and a 5-year-old daughter named Madison with Belafonte.
http://goto.target.com/c/insert your mpid here/138346/2092
Brown said she finally worked up the courage to divorce Belafonte after traveling back to London to see her sick father shortly before his death.
She claimed Belafonte almost caused her to miss the last days she spent with her ailing dad because he allegedly swiped her passport.
Stephen Belafonte (l.) and his estranged wife Mel B.
(Richard Shotwell/Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)Brown was granted custody of the couple's daughter with Belafonte getting no visitation until a follow-up hearing.
http://adn.impactradius.com/display-ad/2092-138346
The court denied a request by Brown to travel outside the U.S. with the 5-year-old girl.
Brown said she's worried Belafonte might seek retribution after law enforcement served him with a search warrant Friday but failed to locate a gun at the family's residence.
Belafonte is not allowed to have a gun due to a prior domestic violence conviction but he allegedly kept one in a lock box in the bedroom closet, Brown's filing stated.
"I fear that with (Belafonte's) character trait for violence, my prior physical beatings by him, his willingness to violate both federal and state laws by possessing a handgun — he knows no bounds," she wrote. "I believe he is extremely dangerous."
No comments :
Post a Comment