The Spice Girls singer, who released 'Brutally Honest: The Sunday Times Bestseller' in 2018, has been sued for allegedly lying about Stephen Belafonte abusing her during their marriage.
- June 2, 2024
AceShowbiz - Mel B (Melanie Brown) has been dragged to court by her ex-husband. The Spice Girls member has been sued for defamation by Stephen Belafonte following the publishing of her expanded 2018 memoir, "Brutally Honest: The Sunday Times Bestseller".
In the court documents filed in the Southern District of Florida Court on Wednesday, May 29, Stephen claimed Mel B has been spreading false claims since their divorce in 2017, causing him "severe emotional distress and destroy his reputation. The filing date coincided with the musician's 49th birthday.
According to the suit, Mel B "falsely" accused Stephen of "crimes and horrific offenses, including physical beatings, rape, financial abuse, emotional abuse, sex trafficking, and illegal gun possession." He added that the singer "leveraged her celebrity status to portray herself as a domestic abuse victim in order to market and sell a memoir laden with egregious lies."
Mel B published the expanded version of "Brutally Honest" on May 5, wherein she discusses her 10-year "emotionally abusive marriage,". Stephen, however, argued that the musician is "profiting off of her public lies" during media appearances and "in her ironically named book with co-writer Louise Gannon: 'Brutally Honest: The Sunday Times Bestseller'."
In a statement to USA TODAY, Stephen's spokesman Mike Paul said Mel B "is a liar and has been lying about him and others for many, many years, including Scary Spice's hurtful and damaging lies about alleged abuse." He added, "When women lie about domestic abuse, they hurt ALL women worldwide who truly suffer from domestic abuse. MEL B: STOP LYING!"
