'AGT' judge Mel B throws water at Simon Cowell and walks off stage after his brutal wedding joke
From playful scares to light-hearted teasing, Simon Cowell is famous for pranking fellow judges on 'America's Got Talent'. However, he may have taken things too far when one of his seemingly harmless remarks deeply offended Melanie 'Mel B' Brown. Not only that, the 'Spice Girls' alum was so furious at Cowell that she also threw water at him, making it clear that this time, he crossed the line.
Back on August 23, 2017, a magician's act on 'America's Got Talent' was halted due to a technical malfunction, which led Cowell to crack a joke, as reported by Variety. However, it was directed towards fellow judge Mel B, which made the singer furious. He said, "I kind of imagine this would be like Mel B's wedding night. A lot of anticipation, not much promise or delivery." For context, Mel B was undergoing divorce proceedings at the time with her estranged husband, Stephen Belafonte. So, it wasn't really surprising that Mel B reacted to Cowell's joke by throwing her cup of water at him and storming out of the 'America's Got Talent' studio.
She later returned and explained, "He should know if you say something inappropriate, he's going to, like, get stuff thrown at him. In a friendly way. I made sure there was no ice in it this time." It is to be noted that Mel B, who has thrown water at Cowell before, added, "I told him he was an a*****e and that was it, and he goes, 'Oh, whatever.'" Mel B at the time was reportedly in the process of filing for joint legal and physical custody of their 5-year-old daughter and sought termination of a spousal support order that required her to pay Belafonte $400,000 per month.
Reportedly, Mel B had accused Belafonte of a decade of physical abuse, coercion, and threats, according to documents filed for a restraining order. The former 'Spice Girl' claims she lived in fear throughout their marriage and that Belafonte even forced her to perform sex acts, as per Grazia. One incident allegedly occurred after the 2012 Olympics closing ceremony, when she says he allegedly punched and pushed her, causing rug burns, and then made her lie about it on Twitter.
Notably, Mel B and Belafonte settled their divorce in 2018. According to TMZ, Belafonte received $5,000 a month in child support and $15,000 in spousal support, along with $350,000 for his attorney fees. All abuse allegations made by Mel B against Belafonte were reportedly dropped. Mel B revealed to the BBC that she used proceeds from the 'Spice Girls' 2019 stadium tour to cover legal fees and payments to her ex-husband, Belafonte.
Sharing about her experience, Mel B said, "Obviously, any situation is better than being with your abuser, but when you've left that kind of abusive situation, it's like starting all over again. You have to learn to trust people. You have to learn to trust yourself." Given such tension behind Mel B's messy divorce, her response to Cowell's crude joke certainly makes sense.