UPDATE 9/4 at 3:30 p.m. ET: Judge Mark Juhas of the Los Angeles Superior Court announced during a public hearing on Tuesday, September 4, that Mel B has been ordered to undergo random drug and alcohol testing at her home for the next four months with a federally approved facility. The judge told the singer and her ex Stephen Belafonte that they cannot consume alcohol during their respective custody periods with daughter Madison (who turned 7 on Saturday, September 1) or at least eight hours before having the child in their care. Belafonte’s attorney, Grace Jamra, claimed via a conference call that Mel B “did not even call her [Madison] on her birthday.”
Original story below:
Mel B and her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte faced off in court in Los Angeles on Friday, August 31, after he claimed she has issues with drugs and alcohol.
The former Spice Girls member’s attorney, Taline Boyamian, said during the hearing that her client is willing to submit to three months of drug testing and undergo a full psychiatric evaluation. Boyamian also asked for Belafonte to submit to random testing, but the judge shot down the request as the attorney did not have proof it was necessary.
Mel B denied in a court filing on Friday that she abuses drugs and alcohol.
The Brutally Honest author and the movie producer, both 43, were married from 2007 to 2017. They share 6-year-old daughter Madison. She is also the mother of daughters Phoenix, 19, and Angel, 11, with ex-husband Jimmy Gulzar and ex-boyfriend Eddie Murphy, respectively.
“The bottom line is we are not here because we want to be,” Belafonte’s attorney, Grace Jamra, told the judge. “We are here for Madison.”
Mel B appeared in court in a red jumpsuit and a leopard-print jacket. She sat on the opposite side of the room from Belafonte, who wore a gray suit. After a brief break in the hearing, the former couple reached a confidential settlement. They are scheduled to return to court on Tuesday, September 4.
“I will make it work,” the singer told the judge after noting that she has to film a live America’s Got Talent episode later that day. She then joked, “I will have a lot more makeup on.”
The news comes days after Mel B announced that she is continuing treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, which she said she was diagnosed with in the wake of her father Martin’s death and her divorce from Belafonte.
The pop star’s longtime friend Rusty Updegraff said in a court declaration obtained by Us Weekly on Friday that he recently quit his job as Angel and Madison’s caretaker because of their mother’s alleged “erratic behavior.” He claimed that she “never called the girls to check in” when they were in his care earlier this year.
Updegraff also alleged in the documents that Mel B “has a serious drinking problem and usually drinks daily,” in addition to using cocaine — even “on the day she gave birth to Angel.” He also accused her of bringing home “at least eight to nine different men” in the past seven months while her children were present.
