Megan: I will be very happy to never have to watch that movie again.
Sinéad: And I'm gonna watch it every year until I die probably
Ashley: Yeah, same.
Steph: I mean, I own it in three different... like, I have the VHS, which actually-
Sinéad: I made Dave watch it and he was like “fuck you and this movie” and I was like “you can leave this marriage,”
Spice Invaders Theme Song: [over trumpet music] It’s got theme song vibes. Like danceable, funky. [Laughter]. So 90s. Girl power. Spice Invaders.
Sinéad: Okay, so today we're going to talk about Spice World the movie starting with how the idea came about, and then how it got made. It's a year into fame, spring of 1997, the band and Fuller were creating their own media to dominate the landscape. They first released in March of ‘97 a book called Girl Power, and it sold 200 copies just in a single day. They also produce Spice Magazine, which had six annual issues, and it was released under the tagline “the only official Girl Power magazine”. And then in April of ‘97, they released a behind the scenes video documentary called One Hour of Girl Power, and that sold like 500,000 copies.
As we discussed on the “Capitalist Spice” episode, they were totally saturating the market with their wares, but also their story. They were selling the idea of who they were, even though it didn't really match the reality of,like,a producer-created band. And so that's where we get to the film is that's kind of the ultimate sale of like the myth of the Spice Girls. So doing a proper film allows the band to tell their story, the way they want to frame it, and reach millions of fans who will pay for the privilege just of seeing them. And it kind of adds a sense of gravitas to their career. Only the most profitable, like, musical group could even justify the expense of making a movie.
We talked about before, back in 1985, when the band was on their first trip to the US. They had meetings with movie companies like DreamWorks and stuff. They also had a meeting with Disney, and apparently Disney pitched a script to them, which was rumoured to have had a young single mom fighting to form a band with the Spice Girls.
Elyse: Wait like they were already the Spice Girls and she was like I want to be in, or they didn't exist yet?
Cheryl: I think based on sort of like piecing things together it was sort of like an origin story where like the single mother was like bringing like the young baby Spice Girls together somehow. And then like, I don't know how the adult Spice Girls would feature, but like the idea of sort of like bringing, like teenage Spices together.
Elyse: That seems like the shitty version of a movie that you do after the main movie when you want another generation of Spice Girls, like Spice Girls Generation Two or something like-
Sinéad: Like, Dirty Dancing Havana Nights.
Elyse: Yeah. All the Spice Girls had babies that are exactly the same as the original Spice Girls. Yeah, I'm glad they didn't do that.
Sinéad: Yeah, so they really didn't like it. And shortly after Disney pitched it I guess their option on the project ran out so they weren't involved with Disney anymore.
[Chimes]
Sinéad: Fast forward to May of ‘97, the band traveled to Cannes to announce to the world that a Spice Girls film was on the horizon. They were actually, like, on a rooftop of a building in Cannes. I'll send you a picture in a second. They did a really charming interview with a BBC journalist which you can find on the internet. We'll definitely link it in the show notes and stuff. The journalists asked whether or not they could act and Victoria cheekily replied, "I'll tell you something. If we can't, you'll soon find out." Like, and they were all sitting on his lap and she's like, "I don't know. You'll just have to find out."
Elyse: Wait, they were all sitting on his lap?
Sinéad: Yeah, they were on a boat, a speedboat.
Ashley: Just a casual detail haha
Sinéad: Well so it's Cannes, right, it's Cannes, there's like yachts....We don't have time to show you the video in this episode, but it is worth watching.
Steph: Because they arrive by speedboat, a lot. It's like a thing to arrive in places in Cannes by speedboat.
Elyse: Oooh
Sinéad: And so they were doing an interview with him on a boat. And it was like one of those little, like, bench, you know, the like, bench seats on like a little speedboat. The five of them were all, like, crowded on it with him.
Elyse: Yeah, the kind they sang “Good Boy Lollipop” on.
Sinéad: Exactly.
Megan: So they went to the Cannes Film Festival to announce this?
Sinéad: Yes.
Megan: Isn't that like... I don't know. Like, it's not a masterpiece.
Sinéad: Megan, what are you talking about?!
Steph: Excuse me. This is a star studded cast. The who's who of British television and film. It was nominated for many awards. Doesn't matter what awards they were...
Sinéad: Most of them Razzies...
Steph: Doesn't matter, doesn't matter! Many awards!
Megan: Just how embarrassing.
Sinéad: Okay, um, now that Megan has slandered the band.
Megan: Sorry haha
Sinéad: If you look in the Spice Invaders chat, I sent a picture of them on the roof of Cannes and like the insane Spice mania fans all around them.
Elyse: Oh, wow.
Megan: That is a pretty cool photo.
Elyse: Yeah, it is.
Steph: Mel B's wearing the jumpsuit she wears in the end of the movie.
Elyse: Oh, yeah.
Sinéad: So anyway, after it was announced, the film which had not yet been made, had already been sold to distributors in every market. It was noted at the time that in order for the film to be ready for Christmas of 97, the announcement of it in May left, like, shockingly little time for production, which obviously we talked about last episode, how they had so much to do. It was ridiculous. And the same thing is true for the film.
Cheryl: I think also going back to sort of the questions that were raised about, like, why Cannes. Part of the point of going to a film festival is to sell the distribution rights. So you want to go to the biggest film festival you can and going to Cannes says like “I have a certain amount of status even if this project isn't necessarily a star studded, glamourous, serious film affair.” Going to that festival means like, we are somebody.
[Chimes]
Cheryl: So before the cameras get rolling Fuller and the Spice Girls start assembling the team that will actually make the film. Simon Fuller gets into the role of executive producer. This role is a little bit flexible, but it sort of handles everything from getting the funding and attracting investors to the project, to elements of legal, script, marketing, and like advising the project would become his wheelhouse. His first hire is actually his brother, Kim Fuller, who has experience working in television. Kim joins the team as the screenwriter for the project and executive producer.
Steph: Kim Fuller would also later go on to write From Justin To Kelly .
Cheryl: And I believe the S Club 7 made-for-TV movie.
Elyse: That is an example of someone leaving this Earth better than they found it.
Megan: What a resume.
Ashley: He truly found his niche.
Elyse: Yeah.
Steph: Yeah.
Cheryl: I also like picture walking into meetings and being like, “so I wrote Spice World, you're also a music act. What do you think?” Just like for the rest of his life.
Elyse: That's the whole pitch, eh.
Cheryl: Yeah, yeah.
Steph: It seemed to work.
[Cimes]
Cheryl: Bob Spiers is the well established director of Absolutely Fabulous fame, and other British productions, is brought on to direct.
Elyse: Oh, that'll be how they got her name from Ab Fab.
Steph: Jennifer Saunders. He also did Fry and Laurie which is probably why they're in it. He also did Are You Being Served and Fawlty Towers. So I'm not really sure why John Cleese is not in this film?
Elyse: He did Fawlty Towers?
Steph: He did some of the episodes, yeah. So where's John Cleese?
Elyse: I know that we're pro Spice Girls. But I do side more with Megan that I do think the movie is an atrocity -a fun atrocity- but it's an atrocity. And the fact that he started with Fawlty Towers, I just think is absolutely insane. Because it's like one of the best comedies ever made.
Megan: I didn't mean to like hate on the movie. It's fun. I quite enjoy watching it. The scenes themselves are fun. It's just like it's not a good movie though. Like if we're looking at like-
Sinéad: It's a terrible, terrible movie! I was just joking when I said you slandered it.
Steph: But it's so fun to watch.
Elyse: I have breaking news. Steph asked by John Cleese wasn't in this because of the director of Fawlty Towers. He was asked to be but he turned it down. He was supposed to play Mr. Step, the drill sergeant! Which would have been so good!
Megan: All I can think of is the Department of Silly Walks when they're doing that.
Elyse: I feel so cheated.
Sinéad: Does he say why he turned it down?
Elyse: No cause John Cleese is an asshole.
Sinéad: He is a fucking asshole.
Elyse: Probably just didn't want to have any fun. He's a conservative little butt! I hate him except I love him. I grew up loving him. And now I realize he's a piece of shit.
Sinéad: All our faves are problematic. It's perennial.
Elyse: That's a nicer way to say it than piece of shit, he's problematic.
Sinéad: He's really transphobic though. So I think we can say he's a piece of shit.
Elyse: Okay, great. Great. I'll stand by it then.
[Chimes]
Cheryl: So one of the things I find really fascinating about this project is that the group themselves, they're credited as actors with the idea of the project, but like a very sort of high level that doesn't actually have any, like, power or like titling to it. But they're not writers, they're not producers, and they're not consultants on the project. Like on one hand, hiring smart people and letting them do their thing is good business sense. I mean, you know that you don't have the time when you're also recording an album to get down and dirty with all the nitty gritty details of making a film. But this also means they have very little formal creative control over the project. And despite their claims of girl power, and you know that they do what they want to do as artists, it seems really at odds to not have them... to not act in a role as producer or writer.
So the script starts being written in January of 1997 by Kim Fuller. This is a completely unheard of and rush timeframe. Do you use the format of the Beatles film, A Hard Day's Night, kind of the only other movie with a band in existence at the time, but it follows the band for a short period of time while they just kind of live it up and embrace their brand, which is exactly what Fuller intended. Kim Fuller, reflecting back on the film, said "you can't expect the girls to act characters, so let's just let them be themselves. I'll make it a week in their life and make it surreal and kind of weird."
Elyse: It's definitely those two things.
Sinéad: So during Kim's writing process, the band would visit his house when they were in London and, like, share stories with him. Some of these stories became inspirations, such as the scene where the girls show up to the diner with Nicola and Blair Wannabe and dance on the tables, because that was kind of similar to what they did when they lived together in Maidenhead, and they were promoting themselves as Touch. And another one was not a direct comparison.
But there was a story where the group fled a double decker bus that was in motion. And that kind of translated into the Spice bus speeding through the city with Victoria behind the wheel. In terms of their involvement, according to Kim, quote "Geri was much more involved in talking about the script than any of the others. She was more ambitious and she was helpful. She would say to me, well, actually, Victoria wouldn't say that, and then you change it around to make sure the lines were ringing true."
One of the major challenges that Kim faced in writing was needing a central point of conflict or tension for the band to push against in order for the film to have an actual plot. Arguable plot. He said, "I put the mad Richard E. Grant manager as someone that they could all kick against, because I rather like subverting reality. But he wasn't supposed to be playing Simon. We did the Svengali joke with Roger Moore. He was more the Simon figure." I always assumed Simon Fuller was the Richard E. Grant character.
Megan: Me too.
Elyse: Yeah, I'm just surprised that Simon Fuller was okay with being cast as a Svengali type of character like a puppet master. I'm just surprised that he didn't... I don't know, quash that. I guess it maybe doesn't matter. Maybe you expect, you know, people like him to be playing that role. But that's like a pretty brutal depiction.
Steph: Yeah, but the whole thing was like a bit also over the top from their own personality. Like they're poking fun at some things throughout it about their personalities and stereotypes. So maybe he was just like, man, it's par for the course that then I get this sort of exaggerated version, or like he believed it to be more of like an exaggerated version, you know?
Elyse: Yeah, I think maybe it seems like seems a little bit heavier now, because of what we talked about in the last recording as well, which was just how sort of miserable everything was getting and how it was the first time Geri's energy was depleting because he wouldn't give her a day off. And like, maybe because that conversation is really fresh in my mind. And there are even like, direct lines in this movie that I'm like, Oh, my God, that is so reflective of what they're going through. And if you don't know that, or it's not being talked about, it seems just kind of meta and silly. But when you do know, it's like, oh, this is truly art imitating life.
Sinéad: I agree with that. And I think that Kim Fuller claiming that Clifford wasn't Simon is almost like defending Simon a little bit, I think. Like, because I do think in real life, they were really feeling the pressure from Simon, as we talked about, and we will talk about later, which really directly is the Clifford character. He's the one putting the pressure on them. But anyway, that's just my thought on that.
Cheryl: I also think it's really hard to complain when someone like Roger Moore steps on set to play you.
Elyse: That's very true. Roger Moore with a teacup pig.
Steph: With many little animals. That's really the key.
Ashley: I know, I never really noticed that until today. Like every time there's a new animal...
Steph: ...different animal.
[Chimes]
Sinéad: Because of all the hype around the project, and the intense popularity of the girls themselves, actors were clamouring for roles in this film. The band spent at least one afternoon flipping through pictures of British acting royalty. They actually picked Alan Cumming because Geri saw his photograph and recalled that she'd seen his performance in Hamlet and she really liked it. Kim Fuller brought on several key actors from his time working in television, the most notable being Richard E. Grant who plays the role of Clifford, the girl's manager. Apparently Grant's eight year old daughter heard the voicemail where he'd been offered the role and demanded that he accept it.
Steph: That's amazing.
Elyse: Wow.
Megan: That's very sweet.
Steph: I mean, I would do the same if my father was offered a role in Spice World.
Sinéad: This is a great moment to talk about our favourite cameos, who was in this movie, like shockingly surprising, famous people. Also famous people that maybe weren't that famous when this was filmed, but have become more famous since, because this movie has it all. My personal favourite is Dominic West who plays the photographer in the fashion scene.
Elyse: Yeah, oh yeah!
Steph: I forget that one all the time. And I'm like, who's that guy?
Sinéad: It shocks me every time because for me, I know him from The Wire and he is like, has an incredible, like enduring role in that series, which started filming not long after he would have filmed the Spice movie, but he certainly wasn't very famous when when this was filmed.
Elyse: So this was the movie that started it all for him.
Steph: Yeah.
Sinéad: That's how Baltimore police decided you'd be great fit after being a photographer at a fashion shoot. Do you guys have any other celebs you want to talk about in the movie?
Elyse: Well, I mean Meatloaf!
Steph: Obviously Meatloaf!
Elyse: How do we not talk about Meatloaf, that stud drivin' his bus?
Steph: This also- this movie came out when my brother and I were going through a huge Meatloaf phase.
Elyse: Oh yeah.
Megan: As one does.
Steph: We had his cassettes...um, yeah.
Elyse: You know, Kevin McMaxford, the editor? He is played by Barry Humphreys aka Dame Edna!
Sinéad: Whoa!
Steph: I didn't know that!
Elyse: Yeah, yeah! Dame Edna the drag queen!
Sinéad: I didn't know that!
Elyse: Yeah, I didn't now that either!
Megan: That's cool!
Sinéad: I've never seen him as anything but Dame Edna!
Elyse: Same, that's why I didn't recognize him!
Sinéad: Although seems like a missed opportunity to not have a drag queen in the movie but whatever.
Elyse: Yeah...
Steph: Don't they? They do though. At the end of...
Elyse: Oh yeah at the rave!
Megan: There's tons of drag queens you know when they go bring their pregnant friend out to a club.
Elyse: Amendment then. Opportunity to have a drag queen get their SAG membership with a line. Their SAG card.
Sinéad: You all are I'm sure familiar with that creepy paparazzi guy, the bald guy?
Elyse & Steph:: Yeah, yeah.
Sinéad: Um, so he actually played Riffraff in the Rocky Horror Picture Show movie.
Elyse: Are you serious?
Sinéad: Yup. And I didn't know that until I was like, wait, what the fuck- cause I knew Riffraff's name was Richard O'Brien. And then I was, like, could be a coincidence. And yeah, that's Richard O'Brien.
Elyse: I can't believe I didn't know this. I was literally just looking at Richard O'Brien because I was just getting tickets actually for Rocky Horror, and I was looking him up and I didn't see Spice World. Wow.
Steph: Is he ashamed of this movie?
Sinéad: And then for me, the other like, notable millennial adjacent cameo is in the like, memory flashback of them in the cafe. The bartender is Fleabag's dad.
Elyse: Oh, really?
Steph: Oh, I remember hearing this. I've never I haven't seen Fleabag yet.
Sinéad: It's Fleabag’s dad, but 20 years younger with a ponytail.
Elyse: No way.
Sinéad: On the infamous people attached to the movie file, do you guys know who Gary Glitter is? I wasn't sure.
Elyse: Yeah, yes.
Sinéad: Okay, so huge, huge British rock star in glam rock. So he filmed a scene for the movie, a cameo playing himself. But during post production, he was charged for downloading child sexual abuse images. So they removed the scene from the movie. But the girls actually kept one of his songs in the movie in the Milan concert scene, the song that they sing "Come On, Come On", that's a Gary Glitter song. So they decided to keep the song but they removed his cameo and he has since been in jail for lots of terrible things. He's never been out of jail basically since 1997.
Elyse: I knew that they had to cut him out but I didn't realize that that's his song.
Sinéad: Yeah, they kept the song.
Elyse: Whoa.
[Chimes]
Cheryl: The film itself is shot over eight weeks in London with about two weeks of work in the studio. The girls were keenly interested in London landmarks being showcased in the film, as London as used as their home and as we've talked about like Britain's a huge part of the brand. And it also had a much shorter pre and post production period than a normal feature film.
Jennie Barnor-Roberts, the onset hairdresser, thought that the girls were super professional. “They were never late. They never bitched about each other. And they were always in the chair on time.” Which I'm sure is more than she can say for a lot of talent she's worked with.
Kim Fuller also recalls that Victoria had an awareness that she was sort of the joke in the film. She told him, "Okay, that's fine, as long as I know". Which I personally think is the vibe. And a couple other stories from the set. Richard E. Grant said that when he entered the communal dressing room for the first time, he encountered a sheer combined energy forcefield. He also later said that they'll be greeted him by saying, "Give us a feel of your bum" on his first day on set and after touching it, she said "you'll do".
Elyse: Oh, that's so harassy, gross.
Sinéad: He loved it. Loved it. He reflected back later, something that I thought was kind of creepy-
Elyse: Oh you have a record of him saying he loved it
Sinéad: Yeah, he loved- he, he is the one who tells this story. And he said at the time, he was like a middle-aged man who was going through like middle-aged men emotional, like, struggles about his self conception. And then there were these five young women who were young enough to be his children, but like were adult women, obviously, who were like constantly flirting with him and like sexually harassing him, and he absolutely loved it, and said, It was so fun, and it made him feel so good about himself.
Elyse: Oh, there you go, folks. You heard it here first, sexual harassment can make people feel great about themselves.
Steph: Hilarious. I mean, Alan Cumming has said that it was- it's his favourite movie to have ever worked on. Like the making of the film was like, so fun, that it's his favourite movie he's ever worked on.
Megan: I honestly think he has the best lines in the movie. Like they're so bad that- but they crack me up.
Steph: When I listened to a podcast he did with Mel B or Mel C sorry. Um, I think he's actually a really big Spice Girls fan, too. Like he constantly refers to them as the Spicies. And like, he has like a bunch of their merch and stuff. Like I think he genuinely is also like a Spice Girls fan. And he learned all the dances from them too, like, they taught him all the dance moves while they were on set.
Megan: Like he was before the movie, or he just, like, fell in love with them during the filming and then became a super fan after.
Sinéad: I mean, he was a young queer man at the time, who was probably like clubbing and stuff and the Spice Girls songs were pretty immediately a hit in those like zones and still are to this day.
Cheryl: If you get a chance in one of the documentaries, I can't remember which one, it might- I think it's the MTV one. There's actually a shot of him when they're like all in the concert hall. And he's talking about how exciting it is to be there. But he's in this like, Girl Power crop top. And it's like one of the most beautiful things related to the 90s that I've ever seen, because it's simultaneously timeless and very 90s.
Cheryl So just one more set story, but Roger Moore walked on set, and everyone was super starstruck, because like, it's Roger Moore. It's James Bond. Oh my god. So because everyone like, went silent he asked like, "do I owe anyone money here?" And everyone cracked up and loved Roger.
Elyse: Oh ho ho ho , that Roger.
Cheryl: Sensible chuckles all around.
[Chimes]
Ashley: What was everyone's favourite scene in Spice World?
Steph: It depends on my mood, which is my favourite part. And also I've realized it's changed as I've gotten older. Like I used to love the little Gucci dress bit, which of course still love, but I find that moment when Mel B is like "oh, he reminds me of my ex-boyfriend Steven, eeeugh," fucking hilarious. All the baby shit around Nicola is so ridiculous-
Sinéad: In the Spice bus when Mel B says "it's gonna shoot out like a cannon!"
Steph: No cause she's still got her tights on!
Megan: Like Geri's got like, rubber gloves on?
Ashley: (laughing) Cleaning gloves
Ashley: And Geri's like "I've read about this!"
Cheryl: Doesn't Geri also like, yell up Nicola's skirt "the baby shouldn't come yet! We're not ready for you!"
Elyse: Mel B does have that great line though when Geri says "Okay, close your legs!" and she goes...
Elyse & Steph:... "you should have done that 9 months ago!"
Ashley: Sinéad what about you?
Sinéad: My number one Spice World memory of all time, that has, like, informed my adult life, is when they go in the Spice bus the first time and you see, like, each of their individual rooms and that just, like, exploded my like, baby interior design mind. And the first time I ever got my own office in my own house. All I could think of was that I was decorating my Spice bus section. Which my husband does not fucking understand at all but you guys do.
Steph: I have always wondered, like, the floor plan of the Spice bus.
Megan: It defies physics!
Steph: That too. And like it obviously is a double decker bus and like Clifford's little zone is on the top floor. But why isn't there a full top floor like that would maximize so much more space? And like, are they ..if they're living on this bus, where are they all sleeping? Like is Baby going into that little dollhouse?
Sinéad: But Steph then it wouldn't have a beautiful atrium so that Clifford could look down at them in their pods and yell at them.
Megan: On the mezzanine floor. Though it's like three floors up, like that's no double decker bus like he's looking down from high up.
Elyse: Maybe the second floor is like 80% bathrooms and that's why Meatloaf really doesn't want to clean them.
Steph: That's the other thing, they reference a multiple bathroom/shower situation, where is this clogged shower? Multiple clogged toilets. Where are all these toilets?
Elyse: Also Clifford, get like a hair trap. No one's gonna pull their hair out of the drain after the shower. It's disgusting. Get them a hair trap, you're their manager, you should be able to go to Dollarama.
Ashley: Elyse, what are your favorite bits? Oh, or Megan, go ahead you were talking..
Megan: I was just gonna jump on and say like the first time I saw it, it was the Spice bus too, like, I just think it sort of exemplifies the movie, like the quirkiness of the space and then also just them being them. I don't know, I thought it was, sort of epitomized the movie early on.
Elyse: Mine was not the Spice bus. I would say, the part that stands out most in my mind, like if I think back to first seeing it in theaters, is not even in the movie. It's in that tag scene at the end. When they all lean towards the camera and go "oh, look at you back there. Yeah, you! I hope you liked it!" and then Victoria says, like "Ooh, I like your dress!" That is, like, burned into my brain as a whole new dimension of movies. Really broke the fourth wall. I love that part. And also the boob grabbing aliens has always been a favorite of mine.
Ashley: Yeah, I feel like for me the Spice bus definitely was huge. The boat scene and “My Boy Lollipop” was huge. Them singing “Come On Come On” with the butts. And, and the aliens for sure. So like boobs, butts, and aliens.
Steph: That makes a great movie.
Elyse: You have described all the best things.
Ashley: Boobs, butts, bus... aliens.
Sinéad: And I actually realized I have one more little thing if I can add, um, I loved how intimidated Alan Cumming is by the girls, like, throughout the movie. Like he's so like macho to his two little tech, like crew bros, but then the minute he's like, faced with them, he's like ":o" and like Alan Cumming was like already a famous Scottish actor when he was in that movie, so I already knew him, and was like, oh my god, like even he's afraid of them. Like, look at like how powerful they are, you know?
Ashley: Just like connecting with Alan Cumming in your, like shared vulnerability.
Cheryl: I feel like that moment, the end, and like the general vibe of this movie, like the thing that I see has stuck with me the most is just, like, the desire to not take things too seriously. You know, and I think it was the first time that I had seen a, like a movie or a film that was like, totally open to the fact that it was like not- like it was earnest, but it wasn't serious, you know? Like Babe (as in like Babe, the pig) is like, earnest, but it's serious. And it's about like... yeah, okay, it's about a pig, but it's also like, it takes itself seriously. Whereas like, this was the first time I watched something and I was like, Oh, we're meant to laugh at this with you, you know?
Ashley: Totally, that's deep.
[Chimes]
Cheryl: So we're going to fast forward through post production and talk about the London premiere.
Sinéad: The London premiere was held on December 15, 1997. At the Empire Cinema in London's West End. It was a star studded affair, just like the movie. Most notably Prince Charles and Princes William and Harry were in attendance and they got the full VIP treatment. They actually sat with the Spice Girls for the screening. Which actually caused some drama, because Prince Charles was really rude to Mel B during the movie. In her second autobiography, she mentioned that during the screening, she'd seen Prince Charles laughing and it seemed like he was, like, really enjoying himself. So she leaned over to say that she was so glad that he liked it so much. And he replied, “I'm a good actor,” which, like, implies that he wasn't enjoying himself. He was just, like, behaving. And apparently she immediately snapped back at him that that was a really rude thing to say.
Elyse: Good for her!
Sinéad: She turned her back to him, I guess, and, like, left Geri to smooth it over. And she said that Geri was like their group diplomat.
Elyse: Oh my god.
Sinéad: And then the Hollywood premiere of the film was on January 22, 1998 at the Chinese Theatre in LA. The girls arrived all in white atop a Spice bus, which are really iconic pictures. I'll share the picture with you in a minute. This time, it was like more American celebrities and like definitely more B-list or like child actors. So for example, the Olsen twins were there.
Elyse: Oh, wow.
Sinéad: And like Tia and Tamera Mowry were there as well as like up and coming teen stars, like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Seth Green. So it like it was not the same caliber of American stars which I really think like just shows you the divide in the UK versus the US like because in the UK, like so many famous people were in the movie and at the premiere in the US that didn't happen.
Cheryl: So the person who realized and made large portions of Spice World possible, in so many ways, wasn't at the premiere.
Before the Spice Girls introduced their fictional schedule keeper to the world in Spice World with Clifford, the girls had fired their real schedule keeper. Simon Fuller was fired in November of 1997, about a month before Spice World was released into the world. Kim Fuller explained (Kim Fuller, the screenwriter and brother of Simon), "So the credits go up on the screen. And his name appears about three times at the beginning. There's a little ripple of applause from some people in the audience. very ironic. The film had raised several 10s of 1000s of pounds for the Prince's Trust. But Simon wasn't there to shake Prince Charles' hand. Even my mum didn't come."
So jumping off of that. In the next episode, we're going to talk about Simon Fuller, why he was fired, the fall out for the group and how girl power might largely be supported and dictated by men.
[Theme Music]
Ashley: That's the end of our episode today. Thank you so much for listening.
Ashley: Spice Invaders is hosted by Sinéad O'Brien, Cheryl Stone, Elyse Maxwell, Stephanie Smith, and Megan Arppe-Robertson. It's produced, researched, and written by Sinéad O'Brien and Cheryl Stone and produced and edited by me, Ashley McDonough. To see any visuals we talked about in this episode, as well as bonus content, be sure to follow us on Instagram @SpiceInvadersPod. Thank you to Lukus Benoit for composing our theme song.
Transcript created by Ashley McDonough and Cheryl Stone