Mel B
Mel B claims she was physically abused by her ex-husband Stephen Belafonte Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Mel B and Stephen Belafonte's bitter divorce battle just has taken another dramatic turn, with witness tampering allegations being levelled against the former Spice Girl.

According to TMZ, the mother of three stands accused of intimidating a female rapper who planned to testify against her in court. Siya Sherman was expected to support Belafonte's story that he never physically abused the America's Got Talent judge, and that the singer — real name Melanie Brown was a habitual drug user that initiated the threesomes in her marriage.

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However, Sherman filed a police report on Monday (11 September) claiming that the 42-year-old star sent her threatening text messages over the weekend warning her against going ahead with the testimony.

The publication reports that authorities have now opened a felony investigation after Sherman, who appeared on Oxygen's Sisterhood of Hip Hop, showed police officers the messages she has received from the Wannabe hitmaker.

IBTimes UK has reached to Mel B's representatives for comment.

Mel B filed for divorce from her husband on 20 March citing ''irreconcilable differences''. Their split soon turned nasty after she got a restraining order against him, alleging that he was physically abusive, pressured her into threesomes with other women and even impregnated their former nanny during their 10-year marriage.

But movie producer Belafonte dismissed the claims and accused his estranged wife of orchestrating a smear campaign to sabotage his image. His rep said in a statement: "In due course, Mr Belafonte will be filing his response to the outrageous and unfounded allegations made by Ms Brown, which allegations he vehemently denies."

A witness tampering investigation would be another blow for Mel, who is currently being sued for defamation by her former nanny Lorraine Gilles. The 26-year-old childminder launched her own proceedings after the former pop star alleged her husband, in an incident separate to the three-way sexual encounters, had got Gilles pregnant and forced her to have an abortion.

Court papers filed on behalf of Gilles in April state: "At no point did Gilles and Belafonte engage in any sexual acts without Brown's knowledge or participation and at no point did Gilles and Belafonte represent to Brown that Gilles was pregnant with Belafonte's child."