Abuse Charges Dropped As Mel B And Stephen Belafonte Finalise Acrimonious Divorce
By Ed Biggs in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 08 August 2018
Their 16 month divorce has finally come to an end.
Mel B’s ex-husband Stephen Belafonte has emerged victorious in the long-running court battle between them, with the charges of domestic abuse against him thrown out and the former Spice Girl being ordered to pay his legal fees and maintain child support payments for their daughter.
Their divorce was finalised at Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday (August 8th) when a judge ruled that the singer, real name Melanie Brown, must pay Belafonte’s $350,000 legal fees.
She must also pay Belafonte $5,000 per month in child support for their six year old daughter Madison, on top of $15,000 per month in spousal support he’s already been receiving, with physical custody of their child split 50/50. Both parties were ordered to set aside funds from the sale of their jointly-owned $8 million Los Angeles home, in order to pay an outstanding tax bill.
Mel B with now ex-husband Stephen Belafonte in 2016
Critically, the remaining charges of physical and mental abuse that Brown alleged that Belafonte had subject her to over their ten-year marriage were dismissed, with both parties dropping the restraining orders they had taken out against each other.
The ruling brings their acrimonious divorce proceedings to an end, 16 months after Brown filed court papers.
More: Mel B accuses estranged husband Stephen Belafonte of “drugging” her throughout marriage [archive]
After the case, Belafonte told MailOnline: “I got everything I wanted and we could have settled this months ago,” he said. “It’s such a relief that it’s finally over. 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.”
Brown, 43, is getting ready for the publication of her tell-all autobiography ‘Brutally Honest’, which is described as “an exposé of the struggles and acute pain that lay behind the glamour and success”.
The back of the book claims it “removes the mask of fame and reveals the true story behind the Spice Girls, as well as the horror of her most recent marriage and her ten year struggle to be free.”
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