Mel B’s daughter opens up about her mother’s abusive relationship with Stephen Belafonte.
Phoenix Chi Gulzar, 19, talked to You Magazine about how she witnessed her mother be abused by Mel B’s ex-husband, Belafonte. “There are things I can’t forget. I was maybe 14 or 15. I was in my bedroom. I could hear them fighting,” said Phoenix.
“My mum came downstairs to the kitchen followed by Stephen. I looked through the crack halfway up the stairs – where I could just see the kitchen – to check if everything was OK, which it was, then returned to my room.” Phoenix added, “I heard more screaming and her shouting, “Stop, get off,” and heard little thumps.”
“I went to the stairs again and saw Stephen with his pants down, and my mum pushed over the couch. I froze, but then I just went back [to her room]. This was my family life.” Being the oldest of Mel B’s three children, Phoenix has seen several other dysfunctional moments in her mother’s life. One other incident involved Phoenix being called out of school in 2014 to visit Mel B in the hospital, drugged up after she overdosed.
“I know she was going through hell, but I never thought she’d think of leaving us,” says Phoenix. Mel B details her abuse and more in her book, “Brutally Honest.”
