Call it “girl sour.”
A clip from a 1997 Spice Girls appearance on the Dutch TV show “Laat de Leeuw” has made its way onto TikTok, and many people are praising group member Mel B for the way she firmly shut down a racist situation.
In the clip, which also received notice in 2017, host and comedian Paul de Leeuw introduces the girl group to several white performers dressed as “Zwarte Piet” or “Black Pete,” a controversial Dutch Christmas character.
Black Pete is traditionally portrayed by people wearing big red lips, frizzy wigs and blackface, per Reuters.
“I don’t like them,” Mel B, who is Black and whose full name is Melanie Brown, shouts in the clip ― even before the people dressed as Black Pete are paraded on stage.
“Nooo!” bandmate Geri Halliwell can be heard yelling as the performers come frolicking out.
As five people decked out in blackface, minstrel garb, red lipstick and gold hoop earrings surround the singers, Mel B implies that this scene is pretty terrifying even for Scary Spice.
“I think they shouldn’t paint their face. You should get proper Black people to do it, you shouldn’t paint their faces. I don’t think that’s very good,” she says.