Brother-in-law spills sinister secrets behind Mel B’s break-up

He claimed the fledgling movie producer also thumped her beloved Labrador Lord so hard it collapsed, The Sun reports.

Jeremiah Stansbury laid bare Belafonte’s behaviour days after the Spice Girl filed for divorce to end their ten-year marriage.

The artist, who used to live with the warring couple in LA, said his controlling brother insisted on keeping a revolver in the house.

He revealed: “In America keeping guns is normal but I remember one of the maids telling me that Mel was confused about why he needs one. She seemed to be a bit nervous about it.”

One of the lowest moments came when Belafonte attacked the Spice Girl’s dog, he alleged.

Jeremiah claimed: “I saw him punch Lord in the ribs full force with all of his strength.

“The dog collapsed and had no breath and was crying. He was standing there laughing. It made me feel ill.

“This was in July 2008 and Mel was not there to intervene.

“Steve loves to hurt animals. When we were teenagers — he was about 13 — he killed a duck in the street. He took a brick and smashed it over the head.”

Jeremiah, 43, worked as a chauffeur for the couple and lived with them in Laurel Canyon for more than a year.

He said Belafonte, 41, who called himself a movie producer despite limited involvement in the industry, used to brag about his ability to seduce women.

He claimed he once flirted with the Filipino nanny.

Jeremiah revealed: “There was one time in 2008 that I saw them sitting in the hot tub in the house together — she was in a purple bikini with a thong and he was wearing swimming shorts. It made me feel uncomfortable.”

He also claimed his brother once took 41-year-old Mel’s Bentley to an Los Angeles nightclub to pick up girls.

Jeremiah added: “Steve and Mel had been arguing and he told her, ‘I’m going out to get my d*** sucked.’ This was his way of making her feel small.

“Steve asked me to I drop him off in at a club and I drove the car around while I waited for him.

“When I went to pick him up he had these two 20-year-old girls with him that he had convinced he was a famous movie producer.

“He told me to drive and we dropped one of the girls off. But the other girl stayed and he told me to drive to the apartment he kept away from Mel’s house and went inside with her.

“Later I dropped the girl off and he went back home and got into bed with Melanie.” The couple endured a stormy marriage during which they both became estranged from their disapproving families.

They also lived it up in Hollywood, spending the millions she made in her music and TV career.

Jeremiah claimed his brother was a meddler who demanded Mel B and the family follow his advice about what to eat.

Speaking from his home in Memphis, Tennessee, he said: “At one point he insisted that the whole family should only have sushi with half the rice as he thought that was healthier. Steve would also guard the fridge and monitor what was in it.

“It was his way of controlling things. But it caused really nasty arguments with Mel.

“If she wanted to order pizza he would tell her, ‘No, we’re having sushi’, and they would start shouting and swearing at each other.

Mel met Belafonte when she was still dealing with the end of her short-lived relationship with Eddie Murphy and as she battled to prove the actor and comic was the father of daughter Angel, now nine.

They tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2007 after a whirlwind romance. Jeremiah said his brother phoned him shortly afterwards to brag that he had not been made to sign a prenuptial agreement — a claim Belafonte denies.

Mel’s mum Andrea, 60, and sister Danielle are said to have taken a dislike to her husband, who they accused of being verbally abusive.

As a result the singer did not speak to them for many years.

Even the 2011 birth of Mel’s daughter with Belafonte, Madison, five, could not heal the rift.

At the same time, they began to enjoy an open relationship. The singer has herself admitted in the past that they have a wild sex life as they are both “perverts”.

Jeremiah said: “She was pretty open about being bisexual. I remember one night in 2008 they brought a woman home with them and all the staff was sent away.

“The kids were not there and they said they wanted to be alone so it was obvious what was happening.”

Jeremiah lived with the couple from 2008 to 2009 but fell out with them after a series of rows. He feels relieved his sister-in-law has finally decided to dump his sibling, who changed his last name from Stansbury after being told he looked like singer Harry Belafonte.

The divorce comes as Mel grieves the death of her dad Martin from cancer earlier this month.

Jeremiah said: “Over time Melanie matured and Steve didn’t.

“I am speaking out because I want my brother to get help.

“He seems to be obsessed with sex and money and for me his life is spinning out of control.”

This post was originally published on The Sun and appears here with permission.