Celebrity Divorce

Lisa Marie Presley's estranged husband arranged for paparazzi to make him look like a doting dad ... so claim people connected to Lisa Marie.

Michael Lockwood was photographed at a flea market Sunday with their twin girls. Sources connected with Lisa Marie tell us Lisa Marie is convinced this was a setup ... that paparazzi didn't just happen to find him. She believes he called them to make it appear he's an involved dad ... something she believes is fiction.

The kids are currently living with their grandma, Priscilla Presley, while the Dept. of Children and Family Services investigates allegations Michael had inappropriate pictures on his computer. Lisa Marie was struggling with substance abuse issues so Priscilla is now the day-to-day guardian.

Lisa Marie filed for divorce last June and asked for sole legal and physical custody. Michael responded by saying he wanted joint custody. For now, he gets monitored visits.

We reached out to Michael's lawyer ... so far, no word back.

Mel B says she has been the victim of horrific brutality at the hands of husband Stephen Belafonte for nearly a decade, and lots of people around her saw her injuries but it appears most of them bought her stories that made no sense.

TMZ broke the story, Mel B got a restraining order Monday against Belafonte, claiming he beat her, choked her and threw her to the ground on multiple occasions. According to the documents, after an alleged beating in 2012 over Belafonte's jealousy of Usher, producers of 'X Factor' (Australia) noticed swelling on her face and asked for a physician. She claimed it was an allergic reaction to shellfish and according to the document, the doctor on set bought her story.

She was also forced to miss a filming of 'X Factor' (UK) in late 2014 because her injuries were so bad they could not be covered by theatrical makeup. When she finally returned, she still had visible facial and body wounds yet no one sounded the alarm.

Around the same time, things got so bad, Mel B tried to take her own life by swallowing an entire bottle of Aspirin. She had a change of heart, tried calling 999, but she says Belafonte prevented her from doing so. At some point she says her friend, Randy, came over but Belafonte forced him to leave. Randy called an ambulance but Belafonte turned it away. Authorities were not alerted.

The next day, her driver showed up to take her to work and saw such extensive injuries he took her to the hospital, where she spent 2 days with security standing guard outside her room to keep Belafonte away. Yet authorities again were not alerted.

She returned again to 'X Factor' (UK) with visible facial and body wounds, which producers attempted to cover up. Again, authorities not called.

When she was back in L.A. she told 'X Factor' "employers" she had attempted suicide to escape from the abuse at the hands of Belafonte. She says they offered assistance to get her away from Belafonte, but it appears authorities were not contacted and she went back to living with him.

Mel B says throughout the years, Belafonte would harass and intimidate her agents, producers and co-stars, and they complained to her he was "abusive and demanding," and he was adversely affecting her business ... but again, it appears authorities were not contacted.

Belafonte tells TMZ he questions the motives of her accusations.

Mel B says she was emotionally weak when she married Stephen Belafonte, but it soon became apparent ... whenever she achieved success, he would literally beat her down to maintain control.

Mel B got a restraining order Monday, forcing Belafonte to leave the family home and stay clear of her and her 3 kids. In her declaration, she recounts why she married him. She says, "At the time, I was vulnerable. I was giving birth as a single mother, my self-esteem was very low, and my hormones were out of balance due to the pregnancy."

She says Belafonte "rushed in to help me in every way," saying in the beginning he was nice and supportive.

Shortly after they got married, Mel B says things changed dramatically. She says he would tell her she was "worthless, that he made me 'who I am,' that no one knows how really stupid I am."

She says he destroyed her self-confidence and self-esteem, especially because she was struggling to lose her pregnancy weight.

Mel B says she lived in abject fear he would make good on his threat to release sex tapes of them he recorded, threatening to ruin her career. She also says he threatened to release the videos to Children's Services in an attempt to have the kids taken away.

As we reported, she says it got so bad, in December 2014, she tried committing suicide by swallowing an entire bottle of Aspirin.

She says the final humiliation was when he allegedly began having sex with their nanny, got her pregnant and told her they should all just live together. She says she got up the gumption to fire the nanny and leave him, but he fired back that the nanny would leak damaging stories to the media and Children's Services. She was so scared she re-hired the nanny and stayed with him.

Even after separating from him in December, she began posting messages suggesting she and Belafonte were working things out. She says what finally gave her the push was her father dying last month. She says Belafonte said, "Suck it up. If he's going to die, he's going to die," and that was the final straw.

Belafonte tells TMZ he questions the motives of her accusations.

Stephen Belafonte got in the crosshairs of the feds after his brother bragged Belafonte was in possession of a gun ... a gun he is prohibited from owning.

We're told The Department of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms got wind of his brother's comments and went to a judge last week asking for a warrant because Belafonte was reportedly convicted of domestic violence in 2003. He had allegedly gotten into a drunken fight with the mother of his child. As part of the conviction, he was prohibited from possessing firearms.

TMZ broke the story ... the ATF showed up to Belafonte's Hollywood Hills home Friday and waited for him to show to serve the warrant. We're told no gun was found.

Ralphie May's estranged wife, Lahna Turner, is getting temporary sole custody of their 2 children, and the comedian will take random drug tests twice a month ... according to new legal docs.

The judge in their nasty custody war has granted Ralphie 2 weekly visits with his children, and one Skype call. A court appointed monitor must be present for the first 3 weeks.

Ralphie, who's made no secret of his love of marijuana, has agreed to submit to random drug tests twice a month.

According to the new docs ... the judge also threw out the restraining order Turner requested last month. Both Ralphie and Lahna have been told to stop talking smack about each other in front of their kids.

Tarek El Moussa's flaunting his best fixer upper yet, and it ain't a house -- it's his ripped bod.

We're told the "Flip or Flop" star was super motivated to get fit after battling 2 cancers, recovering from debilitating back problems and, of course, his troubles with Christina.

Tarek wanted to show off his progress and posed for these seriously shredded pics. Dating site profile pic material?

A friend of Keshia Knight Pulliam's estranged husband says Ed Hartwell's girlfriend made an ominous request about something to "cause a miscarriage" during Keshia's pregnancy.

The friend, Damia Ward-Henley, made the revelation in new court docs filed by Keshia in her divorce case. Damia describes herself as a friend of Ed and Tonya Carroll ... who she says Ed started dating while he was still married to Keshia. According to the docs, Damia says Tonya found out Keshia was pregnant in June 2016, and was very upset because she wanted Ed to leave Keshia.

In the docs, Damia says Tonya told her "she wanted to get something that would cause someone to have a miscarriage." Damia says she shot down the request and told Tonya and Ed to break off their adulterous relationship.

Keshia also filed docs saying she's worried Ed -- an ex-NFL player -- is unfit to care for their 2-month-old daughter because she's seen him take OxyContin. She says Ed testified in a lawsuit with the NFL that he's suffering severe physical and mental problems, and needs to take many drugs to cope.

Michelle Kwan's marriage is on ice, because her husband has just filed for divorce.

According to legal docs, Clay Pell cites irreconcilable differences for the breakdown of his marriage to the 36-year-old, 5-time world champion figure skater and 2-time Olympic medalist.

Clay is mum on spousal support but he does want her to foot the bills from his lawyer.

The couple married in January 2013. 35-year-old Clay was a White House National Security staffer under President Obama. He also ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Rhode Island.

Apollo Nida is thrilled a judge nullified his divorce from Phaedra Parks, because he's suspicious she hasn't disclosed all of their assets, and he wants his cut.

TMZ broke the story ... the judge decided the divorce was unfair because he wasn't informed of the final hearing where the divorce was granted. The judge was also ticked off by Phaedra's vindictiveness ... intentionally misspelling his name on the docs.

So now it's back to square one, and Apollo wants to go back on the hunt to determine what property is fair game to split ... property he says includes a million-dollar marital home, millions of dollars in personal property and several businesses.

Apollo, who is currently serving a prison sentence, also wants joint legal custody of their 2 sons.

Phaedra's rep Steve Honig tells us, "It’s very confusing why a man who is engaged and enjoys frequent visits with his fiancée would work so aggressively to avoid ending his marriage."

"Regardless, Phaedra is reviewing her options with her attorney to determine the most efficient path toward ending this marriage so she can move forward and focus on raising strong, healthy and happy children.”

Phaedra Parks' ride in the single lane has come to a screeching halt -- a judge tossed out her divorce judgment because it was unfair to Apollo Nida.

The judge said he was troubled by a number of things, including Phaedra "intentionally misspelling the parties names."

In the docs -- obtained by TMZ -- hizzoner also said he was troubled Apollo was given the impression he would attend future divorce hearings from prison, which was always out of the question.

Apollo was also not informed of the final hearing or served with docs notifying him the divorce was final.

So, back to the drawing board.

Mel B and Stephen Belafonte took an enormous step Wednesday to ratchet down the anger in their divorce ... we've learned the 2 of them along with their kids went for a family therapy session.

Sources connected with Mel B and Stephen tell TMZ, they drove separately to Mulholland Estates to the home of Dr. Charles Sophy, Mel's longtime psychiatrist. They each drove separately and their 3 kids -- ages 5, 9 and 18 -- drove in a third car with the nanny.

Sophy is a leading psychiatrist in Hollywood, treating scores of celebs. He was a big part of the Michael Jackson molestation trial.

Mel B's husband, Stephen Belafonte, is following her lead and still rocking his wedding ring, but it's not stopping him from chatting up a mystery woman ... who had shades of his estranged wife.

Stephen then hit the liquor store before heading to the Beverly Hills Hotel and Serafina in WeHo -- where he's an owner -- he was spotted chatting up a Mel B look-alike at dinner. She's even wearing the same shade of nail polish as MB.

The 'AGT' judge filed for divorce Monday after separating in December.

Mike Epps' estranged wife is asking him to fork over six-figures every month to support the fam ... according to new docs.

Mechelle Epps claims Mike makes $3.5 million a year, but recently cut her off from bank accounts and credit cards, leaving her high and dry with zero income. She says Mike never wanted her to work during their marriage, and now she can't land a job because she's too old at 36.

In the docs, Mechelle says she spends several thousand bucks a month on shoes and clothes for their 10 and 12-year-old girls. Plus, the girls have to get their hair braided at an "expensive salon" ... not to mention food, vacations and $72k per year for private schooling.

Mechelle says her mom handles nanny duties for a mere $3,500 monthly, plus another $600 to cover Mom's Mercedes.

Mel B's left hand, with a massive diamond attached to it, doesn't look like it's totally in sync with her on divorcing Stephen Belafonte.

Mel was out and about in L.A. Tuesday ... still flashing the 7 carat, $300k wedding ring upgrade Stephen got for her back in 2014.

According to the divorce docs she filed Monday, the couple's been separated since December ... so the breakup is hardly fresh.

Jay Mohr just filed new docs alleging his estranged wife's drug problem makes her an unfit parent, so he wants sole physical custody of their son.

Jay's docs paint a dangerous picture of estranged wife Nikki Cox. He says their 5-year-old son is regressing in ways we will not describe in this post.

Jay says Nikki has done things that have put the boy at risk, including giving him a double dose of flu medicine that caused the boy to vomit in his sleep.

He says Nikki does not set boundaries, letting the child watch cartoons and eat candy at 2 AM.

Jay says Nikki abuses drugs to the point she sometimes doesn't leave her room for days at a time, and he says she's threatened to take her life on at least 2 occasions.

And there's this ... Jay says in January, Nikki told him she thought she was pregnant, but he says it couldn't be his because he's azoospermic.

Mel B is divorcing her husband of almost 10 years ... Stephen Belafonte, and it's been months in the making.

Mel reportedly filed her divorce petition, citing irreconcilable differences -- and according to the docs they've been separated since December 28, 2016.

She and Stephen got married back in June 2007 after only 5 months of dating. They have one daughter, 5-year-old Madison ... and Mel is asking for joint custody.