2014 Video of Louis Walsh Grabbing Mel B's Butt on Live TV Sparks Outrage on Social Media

Clip from The Xtra Factor has gone viral after resurfacing on social media

By Jess Cohen Jul 09, 2018 8:00 PMTags

A 2014 clip showing former X Factor judge Louis Walsh grabbing Mel B's butt has sparked outrage after resurfacing on social media.

The clip, posted to YouTube in Dec. 2014, resurfaced on Twitter and online over the weekend, showing Louis, Mel B, Simon Cowell and Cheryl Cole being interviewed by Sarah-Jane Crawford on The Xtra Factor. During the interview, Louis placed his hand on Mel B's backside and went on to grab her butt as they sat next to each other.

Mel B, clearly uncomfortable, then stopped the interview, telling Sarah-Jane to "hold on a second." Mel B then asked Louis, "Why are you grabbing my butt?"

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Louis replied that he was looking after Mel B and host Sarah-Jane then told him, "Louis! Hands where we can see them please!"

Simon also said to Mel, "Honestly you're safe."

Louis then attempted to laugh off the situation, but Mel B shifted away from him, visibly upset. "sexual harassment on live TV folks," social media user @dys_nania tweeted Sunday along with the video clip, which has since been retweeted over 100,000 times.

"Man Louis Walsh touching Mel b like that is so not ok. If he has the balls to do something like that in public. God knows what hes up to in private," one Twitter user wrote in response to the footage. "Good stuff for mel not havin it tho. Everyone keep ur hands to urself smh."

While another social media user tweeted, "What a creep......Louis Walsh gropes Mel B on TV Can you imagine how much of this goes on when the camera is off??? It's an old clip but still NOT OK."

Mel B and Louis have not commented publicly on the resurfaced video.