Spice Girl’s ex-husband Mel B has gone on an extraordinary tirade against her claim that he physically and mentally abused her during their ten-year marriage, bizarrely claiming that she is still “in love” with him.
Demonstrating a staggering lack of remorse, sure to infuriate the singer, who has received an MBE for her campaign against domestic violence, she also claims she should “be at peace” and suggests she should stop mentioning her name in public.
Stephen Belafonte’s highly provocative comments came just days after Spice Girl gave a high-profile interview in which she confessed that she became “very good at hiding things” at the height of her ordeal, as she says she suffered years of physical and mental abuse during their relationship.
She also claimed that her Spice Girls bandmates knew about the abuse and that she would not report domestic abuse because she doesn’t know if she can ‘trust the police’ in Britain.
Mel, 47, whose real name is Melanie Brown, is a patron of Women’s Aid and campaigns with the charity on domestic abuse issues.
Mel B’s ex-husband, Stephen Belafonte, has launched an extraordinary tirade against her claims that he abused her during their marriage.
The couple began dating in February 2007 after they met on the set of a movie called Talk and tied the knot just four months later in Las Vegas. They divorced in 2017.
Mel B and Stephen Belafonte at the Cosmopolitan Ultimate Women of the Year Awards at One Mayfair in December 2014
Following up on his comments last week, in images obtained by MailOnline, Mr Belafonte: “Six years after our divorce, I have no idea why you mention my name.” She is in love with me. I don’t know.’
Asked if he had a message for Mel B, he added: ‘Be at peace with yourself. Feel at peace with yourself.
In a final calculated insult, she dismissively described her campaigning work against domestic violence, for which she has been recognized around the world, as simply “her new job.”
MailOnline did not pay Belafonte for his time and did not participate in any questions or comments. The comments from him were made to a cameraman in the US whose footage we have obtained.
Speaking on the BBC’s Newsnight program on February 28, Mel claimed that his bandmates knew about the abuse on a small basis.
She added: “But I was in it for 10 years, I was very good at hiding things, especially anything to do with my then-husband, whether he was going home or what he had just arrived for.” of.’
Mel B admitted that she will continue to live with her abuse for the rest of her life, adding: “I will always have to live with what happened to me, and it will live with me side by side for the rest.” of my life.
“For example, my mom said that the first thing he said to me was like ‘well, you’re okay now that you’ve gotten away from him.'”
‘No, if anything, your world is completely turned upside down, because if you’ve been, whether you’ve been in an abusive relationship for an hour, a day, a month, a year, ten years, there are things that an abuser it does for you that it will never leave you, to tell you literally what is happening to you, to put yourself in certain situations, in which you feel so humiliated.
Belafonte’s comments came after the former Spice Girls star made claims about him in an interview.
Speaking on the BBC’s Newsnight program on February 28, Mel claimed that his bandmates knew about the abuse on a small basis.
Mr. Belafonte said: “Six years after our divorce, I have no idea why he mentions my name.” She is in love with me. I don’t know’
In her interview with broadcaster Victoria Derbyshire, Mel B called domestic abuse an “epidemic”.
‘The simplest things like getting dressed in the morning, what do I wear?
“I’m used to being told what to wear in such an aggressive way that these are things I didn’t have to think about. I can’t drive so I have to relearn everything.
Referring to how British police deal with domestic abuse, Mel continued: ‘I wouldn’t (call the police), because I wouldn’t know if they would take it seriously.
‘Like if I’m living here and I want to report it to the police, I don’t know if I can trust the police. I don’t know if they’re going to take my accusations seriously.’
The singer added that “more and younger” people are experiencing domestic abuse, including “children as soon as they start some kind of intimate relationship.”
In his interview with broadcaster Victoria Derbyshire, he also called the problem an “epidemic” and said the statisticians’ job allowed victims to “speak openly”.
She said: ‘When I got my book out, nobody wanted to talk about it. It was like a taboo subject. It was something that everyone knows, but nobody talks about it.
‘He’s just an average person who just wants to be loved and cared for’
Mel’s comments come after he urged Sir Keir Starmer to make fighting domestic violence one of his “national missions” if he becomes prime minister.
The Labor leader said he would make the issue a priority after being questioned by Spice Girl, who is campaigning for change.
Mel B urged Labor leader Keir Starmer to address domestic abuse at a recent Women’s Aid panel
Mel B with her fellow Spice Girls on stage at Madison Square Garden, New York in 2008
Sir Keir said a “powerful point” in his pledge to “make Britain’s streets safe” is tackling violence against women and girls.
He unveiled five missions at a recent event to improve the nation, including ensuring sustained high growth and building a future-fit NHS.
But Mel, sitting next to Sir Keir at a Woman’s Aid panel, demanded that she add a sixth mission: tackling domestic violence.
“If you’re going to talk about your top five things, you have to add another one that is specifically domestic abuse,” he said.
As the audience laughed at her sustained questioning, she said: “You may laugh, but I’m being very serious.”
“It has to be an independent thing where we’re educated on from the ground up, from the inside out.”
Mel described herself as a “big fan” of Sir Keir and expressed confidence that he will win the next general election.
But she warned him: ‘Keir, I am forcing everything on you. I’ll go after you, I will.
“To every survivor and the voice of all who cannot be heard, I am your voice, so be careful. Because I really like you.
In May 2022, Mel also dedicated her MBE for services to charitable causes and vulnerable women to ‘all other women’ facing domestic violence.
Mel began dating Belafonte in February 2007 after they met on the set of a movie called Talk.
After an intense romance, they were married just four months later in Las Vegas; then a year later, they renewed their vows in a larger ceremony with family and friends in Egypt.
They had a daughter together in September 2011, but in 2014 he was charged with assault after she appeared on The X Factor UK live show with bruises and scratches on her face and arms.
Their marriage ended soon after.
A spokesperson for Mel declined to comment.