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Mel B’s Ex-Husband Stephen Belafonte Claims She’s Unfit to Parent As Custody Battle Heats Up
She’s got nothing to hide. Mel B and her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte are due to face off in court again as a nasty custody battle is heating up. Even though their divorce was finalized last month after a year-long battle, Stephen is taking Mel back to court because he questioned whether she is fit to retain custody of her children.
Stephen appeared in court on Friday, according to TMZ, and he provided documentation from people close to Mel that accused her of having an alcohol problem. In the documents, Mel’s former nanny Russell Updegraff claimed that Mel’s drinking problem has gotten so bad that it has a negative effect on her underage children, seven-year-old Madison (whom she shares with Stephen) and 11-year-old daughter Angel Iris Murphy Brown, from her previous relationship with Eddie Murphy.
According to Updegraff, the former Spice Girl allegedly drinks daily, starting at 10 a.m. with beer, and then she gradually moves to wine and hard liquor. Eventually, Mel allegedly drinks until she “passes out,” and when she wakes up she is “mean and belligerent.”
The former nanny also claimed that her drinking has caused her daughters to be “scared and stressed.” He even claimed that Mel would sometimes physically abuse Angel, “digging her nails into her, grabbing her and shaking her.”
Stephen doesn’t want to take the kids away from Mel permanently, but he wants temporary custody so that she can go to rehab and get clean.
The America’s Got Talent judge, who also appeared in court on Friday, said she is not a “raging alcoholic,” she denied that she takes “illicit drugs,” and she denied claims that she is a sex addict, despite the fact that she said she would be admitting herself into a rehab program for sex and alcohol addiction next month. She also said she is open to submit random drug tests over a limited period of time to prove that she is a fit parent.
