Mel B Claims Ex Stephen Belafonte Is Keeping Her From Their Daughter

Mel B and Stephen Belafonte are back in court, reportedly disputing their video chatting privileges with their daughter.

The couple finalized a long and controversial divorce in December, agreeing upon joint legal custody of their daughter, Madison. Brown and Belafonte share physical custody of the 6-year-old on a court-appointed schedule as well, but according to new a report by The Blast, they are asking a judge to rule on how video chatting factors into this arrangement.

Brown has reportedly filed documents accusing Belafonte of preventing her from seeing their daughter while she is in his care. The former Spice Girl has tried to contact her Madison through FaceTime, as well as a video chat available on Gizmo Gadget, but she says Belafonte prevents them from speaking.

This is a potentially frightening scenario for Brown, who has accused Belafonte of physical, sexual and emotional abuse spanning years. In her court filings, she also claimed that he is “doing this in an attempt to either alienate Madison from me and get her to believe that I am not thinking or caring about her.”

Belafonte, in turn, told the court that he has not prevented the calls at all, and that he believes Brown is purposefully hanging up just before the call goes through to make him look bad. Now, he and Brown are both asking a judge to sanction the other for the telecommunication snafu. The judge has yet to rule on this case.

While Brown did get her divorce finalized at last a few months ago, she was also ordered to pay substantial spousal support to Belafonte. She must give the actor $15,000 per month until the end of 2020 — no small part of her income from America’s Got Talent and other ventures.

Meanwhile, Brown is reportedly still getting treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism and sex addiction. She was open about the process last month, when she first sought out help.

“I have recently been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder,” Brown wrote in a statement published by The Sun. “The past six months have been incredibly difficult for me. I’ve been working with a writer on my book, Brutally Honest, and it has been unbelievably traumatic reliving an emotionally abusive relationship and confronting so many massive issues in my life. I am being very honest about drinking to numb my pain but that is just a way a lot of people mask what is really going on.”

She expressed hope that her healing process would inspire others to seek help, rather than using vices to cope as she says she has been doing.

“I am still struggling but if I can shine a light on the issue of pain, PTSD and the things men and women do to mask it, I will do,” she said. “I am speaking about this because this is a huge issue for so many people.”