Shirley Manson Says Sorry To Mel C For Calling Spice Girls “Abhorrent”

Garbage frontwoman Shirley Manson has issued an apology to former Spice Girls member Mel C after previously attacking the group and casting doubt on their influence.

While appearing on the July 6 edition of The Louis Theroux Podcast, Mel C was presented with negative remarks about the Spice Girls from several musicians. One came from Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, who branded the pop group “the Antichrist”. The singer jokingly gasped before responding, “that’s a bit strong, isn’t it? I love Radiohead”.

Theroux also repeated a past statement from Manson, who said: “I want them tarred and feathered. My wish is for the complete and utter destruction of the Spice Girls”. Mel C simply replied, “Wow”. Looking back at the hostility aimed at the band, she explained: “We were probably everything they hated. Because we were the most commercial band, probably ever. We had this shiny pop music… literally, it wasn’t their taste.”

Alongside the remarks shared by Theroux, which dated back to the late 1990s, Manson challenged the authenticity of the Spice Girls’ feminist message during a 2016 conversation with Vice. “At the time, I found the Spice Girls abhorrent,” she said, adding that she viewed their achievements as “a sham”.

Mel C’s calm reaction was uploaded to the podcast’s Instagram page, leading Manson to offer an apology in the comments. “My name is Shirley Manson, and I feel terrible about what I said,” she began. “I believed that the band was entirely manufactured which in so many ways they were but I totally misjudged exactly what the Spice Girls did for an entire generation of very young girls.”

“I realise now that my words were reckless and cruel and I wish I could take them back but I can’t. That’s life I suppose,” she continued. “I learned an invaluable lesson which I have never forgotten. Empowerment comes in many forms. I was an idiot. And history has her last laugh at my expense.”

Mel C accepted the apology warmly, writing: “Shirley I adore you, always have. No hard feelings at all. It was the 90’s we were young, I mean I offered to fight Liam Gallagher at the Brits!”

Manson had much kinder words for Skunk Anansie, who toured with Garbage as coheadliners last month. “It’s a dream come true to share a stage with Skin [frontwoman]. We’ve got so much shared history,” she told NME in March. “I admire her so much. She’s a national treasure, remarkably humble and ridiculously talented, tenacious and with remarkable endurance.”

Meanwhile, the Spice Girls have not performed on tour together since 2019, although Victoria Beckham suggested in May that the band might return through an Abba Voyage style hologram production.