MEL B MUM GROUNDED
Andrea Brown wanted to support the former Spice Girl as she goes through her increasingly bitter divorce from hubby Stephen Belafonte.
But she said she was told the American embassy would not allow her to travel as her paperwork was invalid.
The blow came a week after she revealed she was thankful Mel was alive after “10 years of worry”.
Devastated Andrea tweeted: “Tears at what Melanie’s going through and the embassy wouldn’t let me fly out.”
She had earlier revealed the travel problem by saying: “Anyone going 2 USA 4 3month make sure it’s 90days I stayed 91 10yrs ago so my esta [electronic visa application] invalid.”
Her frustration came as Mel, 42, was pictured with daughter Phoenix Chi, 18, outside court on Friday as she sought a restraining order against her former nanny.
Acrimonious
Mel’s l awyer has claimed Lorraine Gilles, 25, stole £230,858 from her and is “conspiring” with Belafonte, 42, by threatening to release sex tapes.
Gilles and her legal team have denied all allegations and claim she has just been caught in the middle of the celebrity couple’s acrimonious divorce. Mel’s legal team argued that “sexual and salacious” allegations from Gilles could be harmful to her younger daughters Madison, six, and Angel, 10, if such videos were broadcast on TV and the internet.
At a previous court hearing, Mel was ordered to pay Belafonte £ 30,000 a month in spousal support.
This prompted furious Andrea to claim he had physically and emotionally abused the America’s Got Talent judge.
She said on Twitter: “Have 2 b thankful my daughter alive after 10 yrs of worry, she’s finally safe #more important than money.”
Andrea also wrote of the payment order: “This would never happen in England – disgusted with this news.”
Belefonte has always denied claims of domestic abuse. It has also emerged that Mel filed court papers asking a judge to throw out her ex-nanny’s libel claim.
If successful, the move could save Mel £3million in payouts and legal fees.
The 14-page Motion To Strike Punitive Claims and Allegations states that Gilles’s allegation that she was libelled by Mel could not stand up in court. The case erupted when Mel named the German as a key reason for her marriage breaking down in her original divorce paperwork.
Mel alleged that Gilles got pregnant by Belafonte, who was an “agent” for the nanny, and that the couple’s threesomes with her had led to a split.
Gilles’s legal team filed a lawsuit saying Mel’s claims were defamation and that her privacy had been breached.
Mel’s team has asked for the case to be dismissed be- fore it is due to be heard in court again at the end of August, while the judge has urged them to try to reach an out-ofcourt settlement.
A source close to Mel said: “Dealing with this has her at boiling point.
“Mel is hoping the judge backs her argument and simply wipes away the case in one hearing.”
Leeds-born Mel, real name Melanie Brown, filed for divorce from American film producer Belafonte in March. They were married in 2007.
The LA judge awarded him the monthly payout to cover basics like food, housing costs and phone bills.