Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
MEL’S RAGE OVER SLURS
Star fears losing kids in battle
I’ll prove to them all that I love my children and this is a smear campaign to bring me down MEL B ON THE ALLEGATIONS SHE IS NOW FACING ABOUT HER LIFESTYLE
MEL B vowed to battle back last night after being branded a drug, sex and alcohol addict by her kids’ ex-minder.
The allegations were made in court by Scary Spice’s former male nanny and long-time friend Rusty Updegraff. Leeds-born Mel, 43, fears she could lose her three children because of the claims.
The mum, who has a
£2million contract as a judge on Simon
Cowell’s America’s
Got Talent with the NBC network, insisted she would make
“a public statement of my innocence” by taking a drugs test.
She told a pal: “I will prove to them all that I love my children.
“It’s nonsense. It’s a smear campaign. They want to bring me down. I am not an alcoholic and I am not a sex addict.”
A business associate of Mel said last night: “She is fuming right now about what happened in court.
“She feels betrayed by her friend Rusty and is determined to show the judge and the world that these allegations are false.”
Updegraff, 59, made his claims in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday to support a new custody battle by Mel’s ex, TV producer Stephen Belafonte, 43. Updegraff, who looked after Mel’s youngest kids, Angel, 11, and Madison, six, told the court that he saw Mel “use cocaine pretty regularly”.
He alleged she asked for cocaine just moments after giving birth to Angel in hospital.
Rusty, who quit over a pay dispute, claimed that Mel even demanded cocaine on a family holiday in Palm Springs four weeks ago.
He added: “Aside from the obvious alcohol addiction and her addiction to multiple partners that she brings around the children, I truly believe that Melanie is mentally and/or psychologically unstable.
“I do not believe the children are safe in her custody without supervision or monitoring.”
The LA judge ordered Mel and Madison to see a psychotherapist in the next few days before another hearing next week.
America’s Got Talent boss Cowell and Mel’s fellow judges, model Heidi Klum and comedian Howie Mandel, have all expressed support for her.
Mel is expected back in court on Tuesday, the same day that America’s Got Talent is filmed.
Her lawyer Taline Boyamian has said she will undergo drug testing for three months and have a full psychiatric assessment.