MEL B has hit back at ex Stephen Belafonte’s “baseless” defamation lawsuit against her - demanding he and his lawyers are hit with immediate sanctions. The Spice Girl has enlisted the services of the mighty US law firm Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, who are part of the legal team investigating Donald’s Trump’s assassination attempt and have for years represented Elon Musk. They were also Kanye West’s legal advisers - but dumped the rapper after his antisemitic remarks in 2022.
Mel B walked out on her marriage to Belafonte in 2017 after ten years of an abusive and controlling relationship, which she details in media interviews and her autobiography Brutally Honest. The 49-year-old has gone onto be a patron for domestic abuse charity Women’s Aid - and has now resettled to live close to her native Leeds. Film producer Belafonte filed a lawsuit in a Florida court last month claiming that she wrongly depicts him as a violent monster and had been left broke by the disintegration of their marriage.
But Mel has for the first time hit back at Belafonte’s complaint - and her lawyer has filed for a Motion for Sanctions claiming that her attorney fees and costs should be paid for filing this "baseless suit”. She demands Belafonte pays her legal bill under the Florida Rule 11, which is "to deter baseless filings in the district court". The doc adds: "Given the text and purpose of Rule 11, the appropriate sanction here is an order requiring Belafonte and his counsel .