Melanie Brown has made her case for Eddie Murphy’s paternity in the court of public opinion–now she’s taking her tale to the court of law.
The Spice Girl formerly known as Scary has moved to the next stage of her baby battle with reluctant would-be father Murphy, announcing plans to sue the actor after he allegedly ignored repeated requests to submit to a DNA test.
Brown, who listed Murphy as the father on the birth certificate for her month-old daughter, Angel Iris Murphy Brown, has maintained that the Dreamgirls star was not only the father of her child but that the conception had been planned.
Murphy hasn’t exactly endorsed that notion. He upbraided a Dutch TV reporter for asking about his purported fatherhood, telling the journalist that people shouldn’t jump to conclusions and that he would wait until the results of a paternity test.
But, Brown says, Murphy isn’t willing to put his genes where his mouth is.
“He’s not doing a DNA test and he’s not signing the birth certificate,” Brown told People. “So it’s going to have to go to court so he can be forced to do it, which is strange since he was the one asking for it.”
Brown also told the magazine that Murphy, whom she nevertheless refers to as “a great guy,” has not seen mother or child since the Apr. 3 birth, despite repeated attempts on her part to contact him. (Apr. 3 is, ironically, also Murphy’s birthday.)
“He hasn’t seen his daughter,” she said. “My people have contacted his people and they just had no response to anything.”
Brown continued to argue her case via Extra, saying that she harbors no ill-will toward the Oscar nominee and to this day is not sure what caused his seemingly abrupt change of heart.
“I don’t know what happened and I still don’t know what happened,” she said of their parting ways. “We had a few little disagreements and things that we were working through, but I didn’t think for one second it was completely over…my main thing now is I want him to be a responsible parent.
“She can’t speak, she can’t defend herself…so now I’ve got a situation where I have to go through lawyers and I think it’s really sad.”
Following his initial public challenge to the child’s paternity, Murphy has since refused to address the situation. The actor’s publicist, Arnold Robinson, has repeatedly proclaimed that he does not comment on his client’s personal life.
Brown, who has a eight-year-old daughter, Phoenix Chi, with ex-husband Jimmy Gulzar, stands by her claims.
“It takes two people to make a baby,” she told Extra. “It takes two parents to be responsible for a baby. I’ve got no bad feelings. I feel sorry that this baby isn’t seeing her dad and isn’t having the beautiful contact…I just want to get a move on and I just think it’s disappointing that it’s ended like this, so publicly.”
