Friday, 3 August 2007

• Prev
• Next

Eddie Murphy's exes meet up for lunch and laughs

Mel B and Nicole Murphy bring his daughters along for the afternoon date

Remember the adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend"? Melanie Brown seems to be putting it into practice.

Scary Spice was spotted Thursday meeting up with Nicole Murphy – Eddie Murphy's ex-wife and the mother of five of his children – at Beverly Hills eatery the Ivy, where the pair laughed over bottled water and lunch.

Joining the two women were daughters Angel Iris, Brown's 4-month-old, and 5-year-old Bella Zahra, Murphy's youngest child with Nicole.

"They seemed really friendly toward one another," says an onlooker of the pair, who wore curve-hugging dresses and posed for cameras outside. "They had a pretty private meal in the back corner, away from all of us."

The lunch date came one day after Brown and her lawyer Gloria Allred held a press conference claiming that Brown's former boyfriend Murphy "has not paid one penny of child support." A DNA test in June established that the actor is the father, but "paternity has not been legally acknowledged," according to Allred.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, baby Angel was already getting to know her half-sister, and Nicole Murphy – whose divorce from the actor was finalized in April 2006 after 12 years – even comforted the crying child when mom Brown went to the restroom. She rocked Angel until Mom returned, then the two new friends continued laughing and playing with the baby.

Says an onlooker: "Right before they left, Nicole gave Melanie two kisses on the cheek."