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Posted: 2023-12-19T21:55:34Z | Updated: 2023-12-19T21:59:12Z

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 dont 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 shouldnt paint their face. You should get proper Black people to do it, you shouldnt paint their faces. I dont think thats very good, she says.

@medylema

That one time when @Spice Girls was introduced to #blackface in the #netherlands , #MelB wasn't pleased at all . . . #spice #spicegirls #spicegirlsvideo #tvshow #90s #90spopculture #popculture #interview #famous

original sound - Medy Lema

No, no, no, but thats tradition. Thats culture, thats tradition, de Leeuw argues before joking that one of the Black Petes is actually Winnie Mandela, the South African politician and second wife of South African President Nelson Mandela. South Africa was once part of the Dutch colonial empire .

I think they should change it. I think you should change it, Mel B says firmly. You shouldnt have their faces painted. This is the 90s.

No, but its culture, de Leeuw says, to which Mel B replies: Update your culture. You should get proper ones proper Black people.