Mel B’s Ex-Husband Stephen Belafonte Sues Her Filing $5 Million Defamation Lawsuit
Stephen Belafonte, Mel B’s ex-husband, filed a $5 million defamation suit against the singer, alleging that her allegation caused him emotional distress and damaged his reputation.
He filed the lawsuit on Wednesday in the Southern District of Florida, in which he alleged that Brown has spent her last decade encouraging a deliberate campaign to defame his life and career.
In the document, Belafonte asserted that he has faced false accusations of committing heinous offenses such as physical beating, rape, sex trafficking, illegal gun possession, and financial and emotional abuse.
In her newly published book ‘Brutally Honest’ this year, Belafonte alleged that she used her fame against him in a “malicious and vindictive global smear.” His lawsuit also noted that Brown accused him of being like a monster and abuser.
Belafonte shares his daughter, Madison, with Brown, and he has primary custody of their child. He claimed that the singer has hardly maintained a relationship with their daughter, and in the past four years she has visited once to meet the child, despite the fact that she traveled to the US for work.
He stated in his filing that in order to protect his daughter from “drawn-out and public litigation,” he stayed quiet for many years. But now he has decided to “stand up for himself.”
Brow and Belafonte tied the knot in 2007 in Las Vegas, and after ten years of marriage, they filed for divorce in 2017. They were legally separated in 2018, nine months after their divorce filing. Since then, she has repeatedly accused Belafonte of abusing her, which she also writes about in her memoir, Brutally Honest.
Belafonte noted in his complaint that, she filed a temporary restraining order against him in 2017, which she later withdrew because there was no evidence to prove her false allegation. He added that her complaint had deprived him of access to his home and children.
In Brown’s restraining order, she said Belafonte accused her of flirting with Usher on The X Factor Australia’s set in 2012 and punched her in the face with his closed fist, which caused her lip to split and swell. She also added her complaint that, at the time, she told her co-workers she had an allergic reaction to cover her ex-husband.
In his recent filing, Belafonte stated that the incident was a “complete fabrication.” He also claimed that Paparazzi took the singer’s photos that night, which showed “no signs of an injury whatsoever,” and two days later, she appeared on TV without showing any signs of split lips or swelling.