‘Parental Alienation’: Spice Girls Star Mel B Accuses Ex-Husband Stephen Of ‘Brainwashing’ Their 11-Year-Old, Rushes to Court in Fight Over Visitation
The exes are back in court.
Feb. 23 2024, Published 10:30 a.m. ET
Spice Girls singer Mel B rushed to court this week after an argument with her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte over visitation with her daughter.
According to court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Mel pleaded for an emergency court order that would allow her visitation with her daughter Madison later this month.
Mel said she would be in the United States from February 26 to March 4.
Mel is attacking her ex in court papers.
As RadarOnline.com first reported, last year, Mel was shut down in her attempt to gain full custody of the 11-year-old. Stephen has had primary custody of the child since Mel’s work Visa expired in 2019 — and she had to move back to the UK.
Stephen opposed the request and accused Mel of erratic behavior. The singer claimed her ex was not providing their daughter with a stable home and asked that Madison move to the UK.
The judge denied the request and allowed Stephen to move to Florida with Madison.
In her recent motion, Mel said “[Stephen] initially agreed to my requested parenting time with Madison when I provided him with notice of my trip to Miami 19 days in advance of my expected arrival. He later withdrew his consent, claiming that Madison cannot spend time with me, her mother, for the first three days of my trip to visit her because she has plans with aunts and uncles.”
She added, “[Stephen] threatened to call the police if I attempt to pick Madison up from school on February 26.”
Mel lost her bid for primary custody last year.
Mel added, “[Stephen’s] recent conduct demonstrates an ongoing of pattern of parental alienation.”
She added, “[Stephen] will do anything in his power to keep Madison away from me. He speaks with her about our legal issues and coaches her to say and do certain things. For example, last week I received a voice note from our daughter stating that she will “call her lawyer” if I did not agree to her vacation in the Bahamas.”
She wrote, “Madison is a sweet, loving, caring young girl. The statements she makes while in [Stephen’s] care are entirely out of character.”
Mel added, “I am certain that [Stephen] is drafting Madison’s text messages to me to create a record of his false narrative. Then, when I call attention to the messages being clearly drafted by him, he forces Madison to send voice notes in an attempt to “prove” it is Madison behind the messages. [Stephen] is brain washing [sic] our young daughter and damaging her mental health and wellbeing.”
The exes in happier times.
In addition, Mel claimed Stephen had failed to provide her with a list of Madison’s teachers in Florida.
Mel added, “Madison spends a substantial amount of time with me in the U.K. when she is off school for holiday and summer breaks. As mentioned, Madison is sweet, kind, thoughtful, and sensitive when she is in my care. She has an extremely close bond with me, my fiancé, her sisters, and our friends and relatives in the U.K. It is upsetting to me to observe how different Madison is when she is in her father’s care.”
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A judge has yet to rule on Mel's request.
Mel and Stephen were married from 2007 until their divorce was finalized in 2017.
In a statement to RadarOnline.com, Stephen's lawyer, Tigran Palyan, told us, "The public record, which speaks for itself on your questions, shows the Court has ruled against Ms. Brown on her motions going back to December of 2022, and that Ms. Brown was unable to prove any of her allegations when the time came."
"On the other hand, Mr. Belafonte has not only been granted virtually all of the orders he sought in his emergency motion starting in December of 2022, but every other motion thereafter, including his request for relocation to Florida with the minor child which was granted on July 10, 2023. Ms. Brown responded with a similar motion asking the Court to allow the minor child to relocate the U.K., but this motion was denied in its entirety despite Ms. Brown's allegations against Mr. Belafonte. Unfortunately, Ms. Brown continued these allegations against Mr. Belafonte again, and none of them were proven or found persuasive by the Court as recent as December 1, 2023,"
Palyan continued, "The Court has not disturbed the long-standing orders that the minor child be in Mr. Belafonte's primary care and custody. Mr. Belafonte has asserted in his filed declarations that Ms. Brown has failed to visit the minor child in the United States for the past four years. The latest motion brought by Ms. Brown yesterday, February 22, 2024, seeking for visitation in the United States was unsuccessful given that the Court simply ordered and adopted Mr. Belafonte's proposed visitation dates from dates offered by Ms. Brown, in lieu of the orders requested by Ms. Brown."
