Stephen Belafonte celebrates as Mel B is ordered to pay his $350,000 legal fees in divorce battle: ‘I feel like going to Disneyland’

Court ruling: Mel B has been ordered to pay her ex-husband's legal costs
Daniel Bates7 August 2018
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Mel B was ordered to pay $350,000 of her ex-husband’s legal costs as the couple finally settled their bitter divorce.

The former Spice Girl, real name Melanie Brown, must also pay Stephen Belafonte $5,000 a month in child support for their six-year-old daughter Madison, a judge ruled.

Mr Belafonte, 43, today said he had been “dragged through the mud”, adding: “I feel like going to Disneyland.”

At the Los Angeles Superior Court, the former couple agreed to stay 200 yards away from each other after Judge Mark Juhas threw out restraining orders they had tried to put on each other.

In divorce papers, Miss Brown had alleged Mr Belafonte, a former record producer, beat her up and forced her to take part in threesomes which he filmed then blackmailed her with the footage.

One of his attacks supposedly happened after she performed with the Spice Girls at the London 2012 Olympics, prompting her to swallow a bottle of painkillers in despair.

Miss Brown also claimed her ex-husband got their German nanny Lorraine Gilles, 26, pregnant and paid her $300,000 to have an abortion.

Mr Belafonte denied the accusations. The LA court also ordered him and the singer to set aside $550,000 each when they sell their $8 million home, to pay back taxes from 2016.

Estranged: Mel B and former husband Stephen Belafonte
Getty Images

Mother-of-three Miss Brown, 43, left the court without a word but posted a video on Instagram in which she and friend Gary Madatyan appeared to be celebrating. Meanwhile, Mr Belafonte ranted about her as he left, saying: “I got everything I wanted and we could have settled this months ago. It’s such a relief that it’s finally over.”

He added: “She didn’t get anything out of this. We split everything 50/50. In fact, my alimony and my child support is more than I had asked for.”

The settlement came after three days of negotiation between the parties who have become bitter enemies since they split up last November after 10 years.

Miss Brown, a judge on America’s Got Talent, claimed Mr Belafonte was physically and emotionally abusive to her and her children.

He accused her of turning his 10-year-old stepdaughter Angel — whose father is Eddie Murphy — against him, even though he had raised the girl from birth.

As part of the settlement, Mr Belafonte withdrew his motion for visitation rights for Angel. However, he said he could “try again” because he “would really like” to spend time with her.

Spice Girls reunite - In pictures

1/7

Outside court, he said: “I was dragged through the mud, but she [Miss Brown] didn’t show her evidence. She told these lies every time.

"She got to level all of these allegations at me, played the victim before all the truth came out … everything she said, including saying that I beat her and put her in the hospital for eight days, is a lie.”

Mr Belafonte added: “I feel like going to Disneyland and jumping for joy.”

Exceptions to the “200 yards away” order will be made for Madison’s school events and extra-curricular activities.

The agreement adds: “Neither parent shall make any disparaging remarks about the other parent to Madison or in Madison’s presence.” The former couple will split time with their daughter, including holidays. Custody on her birthday will alternate each year.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in