Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MEL B’S GIRL, 10: I’M SCARED OF STEPHEN
Angel’s shock letter amid visitation fight
MEL B’s 10-year-old daughter has told of how she is afraid of the singer’s ex-husband and never wants to see him again.
Angel, whose dad is Hollywood actor Eddie Murphy, made her revelations about Stephen Belafonte amid an ongoing visitation row.
Film producer Belafonte, 42, says she is like his own daughter and wants to remain part of her life.
But Angel made her feelings clear in a distressing letter that Mel’s mum, Andrea Brown, posted online, captioned: “A cry for help.”
The note claims Belafonte put the family through a “nightmare” before former
Spice Girl Mel, 42, filed for divorce last year to end their
10-year marriage.
It reads: “I’m very frightened of
Stephen. When he is mad, it’s terrifying. I never want to see him again it’d be like reliving a horrible part of my life.
“The worst part about the times I lived with him is when I’d try to stop the fights and cursing.
“When I tried he would say, ‘Oh shut up’ and I would be so scared I wouldn’t say anything else.
“I witnessed a physical fight. I was lying in my mother’s room ‘sleeping’. I woke to a fight. I can’t remember what it was about but I heard Stephen hitting mommy’s hand, it was hard cause I heard it. Mommy said ‘You snapped my nail off’. I attempted to fake sleep cause I didn’t want to interfere and get hurt. I don’t want to see the man that causes so much damage to my mother leading her living through a nightmare.”
The letter claims Belafonte’s daughter Giselle told her that Murphy, 56, who split with Mel before she was born, was her dad when she was five.
She added: “Extremely proud of that. I got an amazing relationship with my sisters, brothers, grandma and father, Eddie Murphy!’
On life with Belafonte, the letter added: “When I lived with Stephen the rules were the strictest. “When we ate food, we had to sit on the floor instead of the dinner table. He said we would make a mess on the table.
“I’m happy I don’t see him anymore. Now I live in a beautiful house. We can eat up at an actual dinner table and I can see my REAL dad. I create small picture books and I have no more fear. I love seeing my real dad! And I loved seeing my mother happy! Not sad! Please don’t make me see him again – ps Angel.”
It is not clear if the letter has been presented to the Los Angeles court hearing the visitation case.
Mel, who has daughter Madison, six, with Belafonte, is opposed to him having any contact with Angel.
Since she split from him, she has rebuilt her relationship with her mother after being estranged from her throughout the marriage.