Melanie Brown To Take Eddie Murphy to Court

By: Shannon Gossage

Brown confirmed that she is taking Murphy to court for a paternity test to prove that he is the father of her newborn daughter, Angel Iris Murphy Brown. She reportedly said Tuesday, "He’s not doing a DNA test and he’s not signing the birth certificate. 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 said that Murphy has not contacted her since the baby was born and said, "He hasn’t seen his daughter. My people have contacted his people and they just had no response to anything."

Brown and Murphy briefly dated after he his divorce from ex-wife Nicole Mitchell was finalized in April 2006. They reportedly split in October and he began seeing Tracey Edmunds, ex-wife of Babyface. Brown, 31, has always maintained that Murphy is the father of the baby and says that at the beginning he was excited about the baby. She called their split "abrupt." Murphy challenged the paternity claims in an interview for a Dutch television station when he was asked if he was excited about the baby. Murphy replied, "I don’t know whose child that is until it comes out and has a blood test." Brown fired back saying , "There is absolutely no question that Eddie is the father."

The baby was born on April 3, 2007 and Brown listed Murphy as the father on the birth certificate. She refers to Murphy as a "great guy" and a source close to her claims that she would take him back in a heartbeat. Brown did say of Murphy and their current situation, "I just think that no woman should have to go through that and no baby should have to go through that. Be responsible. What else can you say?" She also has an 8-year old daughter, Phoenix Chi, with her ex-husband, Jimmy Gulzar. Brown says that for now she is concentrating on getting back in shape and says that she loves being a Mom. As for Murphy, his rep said, "We do not comment on Mr. Murphy’s personal life."