Mel B was a former Spice Girl. Stephen Belafonte was a Hollywood film producer. They had a tumultuous relationship. There were claims of abuse, both physical and emotional. Their whirlwind romance began on a film set in February 2007 but soon became a nightmare lasting for ten years. Here is the shocking story of their relationship and how Mel B escaped and recovered.
The Relationship
Mel B met Stephen Belafonte on the set of a comedy film Talk in February 2007. They hit it off immediately, and within a few months, they eloped to Las Vegas and got married. Mel B later said that she was “madly in love” with Belafonte, and that he made her feel “sexy and confident”.
However, not everyone was happy about their union. Mel B’s family was skeptical about Belafonte, especially after learning about his troubled past. Belafonte had an uncontested charge of battery against a former partner, Nicole Contreras, and various other convictions for theft and vandalism. He also had a daughter from a previous relationship, whom he rarely saw.
Despite the red flags, Mel B decided to give Belafonte a chance and hoped that he would change for the better. They held a more significant ceremony with friends and family in Egypt the following year and welcomed their daughter, Madison, in 2011.
The Abuse
Behind the scenes, however, Mel B’s relationship with Belafonte was far from perfect. She alleges that he subjected her to years of physical and mental abuse and that he isolated her from her loved ones. She claims that he would punch, choke, and slam her against the floor, leaving her with bruises and scars. He would also call her names, insult her appearance, and accuse her of cheating on him.
Mel B claims that Belafonte had a strange sexual fixation on her. She says he made her participate in threesomes with him and their nanny, Lorraine Gilles. Mel B also says that Belafonte and Gilles planned to blackmail her by threatening to share explicit videos of her. Additionally, Gilles became pregnant with Belafonte’s baby but chose to have an abortion.
Mel B has candidly detailed living with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, five years after ending her marriage to Stephen Belafonte. The singer split from Stephen, 46, in 2017 and claimed he had emotionally and physically abused her during their 10-year …HTTPS://T.CO/PT53BFOAHO
— Flourish gratitude (@song_title) OCTOBER 8, 2023
Mel B also accuses Belafonte of using controlling behavior, which made her feel trapped and helpless. She says he would hide her keys, making her believe she had lost them and forbidding her from having her own set. He would also monitor her phone calls, emails, and social media accounts and dictate what she could wear, eat, and say.
Mel B’s abuse was so severe that it drove her to attempt suicide in 2014. She says that she took a bottle of aspirin, hoping to end her pain, but changed her mind at the last minute and called for help. She was rushed to the hospital, where she was treated for a stomach ulcer.
The Divorce
After ten years of suffering, Mel B finally decided to end her marriage with Belafonte in March 2017. She filed for divorce because they couldn’t reconcile their differences. She also got a restraining order against him. She also sought full custody of their daughter, Madison, and requested that Belafonte be denied any visitation rights.
The divorce process was messy and bitter, as Belafonte denied all the abuse allegations and accused Mel B of being a liar and a drug addict. He also claimed that he was the victim of domestic violence and that Mel B had attacked him several times. He demanded spousal support, child support, and a share of Mel B’s fortune.
After months of legal battles, Mel B and Stephen Belafonte finalized their divorce in December 2017. Belafonte received $5,000 monthly for child support as part of the settlement. He also received $15,000 every month for spousal support. Mel B also paid $350,000 for his attorney fees. All abuse allegations made against Belafonte by Mel B were reportedly dropped, as they agreed to a “clean break.”
The Escape
After leaving Belafonte, Mel B embarked on a journey of healing and recovery. She decided to have a tattoo that read “Stephen, till death do us part, you own my heart” cut from her body, as a symbolic gesture of removing him from her life. She also had her vagina surgically scraped and new tissue put in as a way of reclaiming her body and sexuality.
However, Mel B’s emotional healing was more complicated, as she struggled with the trauma and the aftermath of the abuse. She said that Belafonte had insisted she only wore certain colors, and for the first year after leaving him, she would only wear white because she felt like she had to cleanse herself.
Mel B also sought professional help and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She underwent therapy and wrote a memoir called Brutally Honest, where she opened up about her abuse and her suicide attempt. She also joined a support group for domestic violence survivors and became an advocate for raising awareness and helping other victims.
Mel B has said she is still healing and is not ready to date anyone yet. She has also said she is focusing on her children, career, and happiness. She has expressed gratitude for her fans, friends, and family, who have supported her throughout her ordeal. She hopes her story inspires other women to speak up and seek help. She wants to show them there is a way out of the darkness.
