Mel B’s ex-husband Stephen Belafonte has filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit against the singer.
He lodged the claim in a Florida court on the Spice Girl’s birthday, Wednesday 29 May.
According to court documents obtained by Us Weekly, Belafonte is accusing his former spouse of creating a “deliberate and wide-ranging campaign to cause him severe emotional distress and destroy his reputation” in the years since their 2017 split.
Mel B, full name Melanie Brown, filed for divorce from Belafonte in March 2017 after nearly 10 years of marriage.
One month later, she was granted a temporary restraining order against him after claiming he was abusive.
He has denied the abuse allegations.
In Belafonte’s new lawsuit, he claims that although Mel B “dismissed” her allegations before “his day in court”, the damage had already been done to his character.
“As a result of Ms Brown’s false allegations of rape, illegal gun possession, sex trafficking, production of illegal pornography, domestic battery and child endangerment, Mr Belafonte lost access to his home and children,” his court docs state.
The two reached a partial divorce settlement in November 2017 before fully finalising their split the following August.
In the aftermath of the settlement, Belafonte was granted primary custody of their now 12-year-old daughter, Madison, whom Belafonte claims Mel B has only visited once since then.
Mel B also shares daughter Phoenix, 25, with her ex-husband, Jimmy Gulzar, and Angel, 17, with ex Eddie Murphy.
She is currently engaged to hairdresser Rory McPhee.
