Hollywood’s most complicated family at war!
Melanie Griffith is in a world of pain as her daughter files to drop her mum’s last name
With three ex-husbands and a child to each of them to her name, family life was always going to be complicated for Melanie Griffith. And after going through four divorces – she split twice from Don Johnson, who was husband number one and three – you’d think the 64-year-old actress would be done with the drama.
But Melanie’s chaotic relationships crossed into a new generation, when her daughter Stella, who she shares with her most recent ex, Spanish star Antonio Banderas, filed to legally drop her mother’s surname.
Born Stella del Carmen Banderas Griffith, the 25-yearold has declared she “wants to shorten my name by removing the extra last name”, according to court papers. “As well, I typically do not use ‘Griffith’ when referring to myself or on documents, so dropping the name would match my regular use.”
Despite this, Stella’s Instagram username is @stellabanderasgriffith.
A source tells Woman’s Day exclusively that the filing “blindsided” Melanie, who is “really sad” that her daughter would want to jettison her maternal surname.
“It came out of the blue,” says the source. “It’s obvious Stella is closer with her father, but Melanie didn’t realise Stella’s feelings were so strong leaning his way, that she’d get rid of her own mother’s name. You really have to want to, to go as far as the courts over something like this.”
Around the same time as her filing, Stella – who tends to shun the spotlight, despite her A-list genes – walked a red carpet with her dad.
STRESSFUL TIMES
It’s just the latest hurdle life has thrown in Melanie’s way.
She divorced Antonio, 61, in 2015, with the actress firmly believing the stress of her
marriage brought on a bout of epileptic seizures.
“My brain is so f**ked up,” she declared in 2017 at a women’s brain health initiative panel.
“I had two seizures [while on a yacht], one they took me off the boat. I had this major grand mal seizure and they took me to the hospital in Cannes, and then brought me back to the boat. And then I had another seizure…. When I came back [to the United States], I was diagnosed with epilepsy.”
She added, “I got divorced, which was the real healer for me.”
Sources say since then Stella was “disappointed” her mum would make barbed comments about her dad. “Stella is forever begging Melanie to grow up, and she gets super frustrated with her,” says an insider.
Now, with Stella giving the Griffith part of her heritage the chop, the rest of Melanie’s family is taking sides.
An insider says her eldest child, Alexander Bauer, 36, who she shares with her second husband Steven Bauer, “can’t believe Stella would do this to their mother”.
“He doesn’t see the point in it at all, except to rock the boat,” says a source.
“Stella might think Melanie can be immature, but is this any different?”
Meanwhile, Melanie’s 32-year-old daughter Dakota – star of the 50 Shades movie franchise – is doing her best “not to take sides”.
“Dakota knows how her mum can be, so she gets Stella’s frustrations, but she also knows Melanie is a fragile person and she’s worried about how much this will hurt her,” says a source, of the child Melanie shares with Don.
“Dakota hates drama, and wishes that her mother could be spared all the stress, so she’ll be furious.”
‘Stella is forever begging Melanie to grow up’