Mel B’s divorce from Stephen Belafonte is one of the messiest and saddest stories of the year, and that’s saying a lot.
It’s not sad that they’re divorcing — what’s sad is the horrifying accusations that have come out since their split. Mel B has a long court battle ahead of her.
But it looks like the Spice Girl and TV personality is striking back, and she’s armed with evidence that supports her claims — including depositions.
Do you guys remember back in December of 2014?
Honestly, 2017 feels like it’s lasted at least 1,000 years and we’re barely into September (and with two “500 year storms” already, that’s no surprise), so we’ll understand if you’re drawing a blank.
Fans notices bruises on Mel B during an airing of X Factor — on which the Spice Girl was a judge.
Mel B responded to speculation by declaring that her husband, Stephen Belafonte would never hurt her.
Unfortunately, as we are all aware by now, someone denying that they’re a victim of domestic violence … doesn’t mean anything. Victims will generally say anything to protect their abusers.
Until they reach a breaking point, that is.
This year, Mel B has split from husband Stephen Belafonte and was granted an order of protection after accusing Belafonte of punching and choking her.
That is horrifying to hear.
There have also been more salacious stories about their marriage, including claims that Mel B and Belafonte’s nanny was Belafonte’s lover.
Allegedly, Stephen Belafonte wanted to control Mel B’s money but also retain a young lover.
Belafonte had also allegedly blackmailed Mel B with recordings of their sex life.
Mel B’s nanny, Lorraine Gilles, sued for defamation, claiming that she had been Mel B’s consensual lover and that she had never had one-on-one sex with Stephen Belafonte.
Based upon new papers that Mel B’s team has filed, it sounds like Gilles is walking back some of those claims.
TMZ got a hold of some court documents that allege that Stephen Belafonte arranged a phony marriage for Lorraine Gilles, one that allowed him to keep Lorraine nearby.
And that he used Mel B’s money to do it.
The documents include portions of Lorraine Gilles’ deposition, in which she admits to having sex alone with Stephen Belafonte — ten to fifteen times.
Considering how many years she was in their lives, that sounds like a really low number, but it’s progress from her claim that she only had sex with him during threesomes.
Gilles also admits to having had sex with Belafonte around the time that she got an abortion, but claims that it wasn’t his.
(We’d ask how she, or anyone, could know for sure, as we can’t imagine that any genetic testing was involved — but hey, we’re no experts)
Now, Lorraine Gilles married Michael Bleu — which Mel B alleges was a sham.
Her team included a deposition from Bleu himself, in which he admits to having purchased the engagement ring for $ 30 on eBay.
Ah, romance.
Gilles also admits that the sex tapes — the ones that Mel B says Belafonte used to blackmail her — definitely exist and that she watched them as recently as July of 2016.
(There is a very real fear that Belafonte might release the sex tapes, in part or in whole, during these upcoming court battles)
As for Michael Bleu’s incentive for the fake marriage? Apparently Belafonte got Mel B to invest $ 60,000 in Michael Bleu’s business.
At the time, Mel B had no idea that Michael Bleu had been arrested for a sex crime (yikes!) and convicted for false imprisonment.
Mel B hopes to keep Belafonte’s domestic violence trial closed to the public, for her sake and for the sake of her children.
Belafonte wants it to be public — a powerful intimidation tactic against his accuser.
We hope that this whole ordeal comes to an end soon.
