Scary Mel B has talent for courts

Melanie Brown at one of her court-related visits last year. Picture: Cameron Richardson Source: The Daily Telegraph

The Daily Telegraph reports

The current battle in the Australian courts involving former Spice Girl Melanie Brown (Mel B) may leave her last stoush with uber-pap Jamie Fawcett in the dust.

As recently reported, the Seven Network has taken the singer to court, alleging that she has broken a contract stipulating she will not appear on another Australian television network in 2013.

This was allegedly why Brown was allowed to go back to the US to take up a role on America's Got Talent, which is currently shooting.

She had also allegedly made it clear to Seven, where she appeared on The X Factor and Dancing With The Stars, that she needed to return to the US for personal reasons: Eddie Murphy wanted more access to the child he had with her.

Seven's executives were understandably gobsmacked when it was recently revealed that Mel B had signed on as a judge on the rebooted Australia's Got Talent on Channel 9, which will film later this year.

Last week, a NSW Supreme Court judge granted an injunction preventing her from appearing on any Australian TV network other than Seven until January 31 next year.

This is where it gets interesting because, according to a well placed source, if Brown contests the injunction, her producer husband Stephen Belafonte may be called to testify.

It's understood that Belafonte is claiming there was a verbal agreement to release Brown from her contract, while Seven are contesting this.

Unfortunately for Belafonte, being called to the stand may give Seven's lawyers the opportunity to examine his record with the American courts under his birth name of Stephen Stansbury.

This pesky and well-documented past stood in the way of the couple being granted permanent residency in Australia under the stringent guidelines from the Department of Immigration, which does not look kindly on anyone with a criminal record.

According to a departmental spokesman, it is not something that is automatically ruled out but there are lengthy further investigations.

Exactly where all this leaves Mel B's position on the AGT judging panel is unclear but if Belafonte is called to testify in the Supreme Court, it could potentially be more riveting than Jersey Shore.