Ellie Goulding has defended Tom Grennan after he came under fire for commenting on her breasts at the Brit Awards.
The night was full of memorable moments, with Harry Styles picking up four awards, Wet Leg taking their opportunity to say 'f**k the Tories', and Mo Gilligan introducing Lewis Capaldi as 'Sam Capaldi'.
The night was also tainted by allegations of sexism, with no women nominated for the Best Artist award, and Grennan came under fire for a remark he made while presenting the Best New Artist award at London's O2 Arena on Saturday night (11 February).
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After clocking Goulding's black breastplate, the 'Make 'em Like You' singer asked: "I love what you’re doing - they're your real boobs?"
Goulding then replied: "These are not mine, I wish, mine are a lot further apart."
Grennan attempted to salvage the awkward situation by quickly apologising before presenting the award.
But he went on to face a great deal of backlash for the 'inappropriate situation', with one viewer tweeting: "Tom Grennan needs to get in the actual bin. Men always going out of their way to humiliate and sexualise women in plain sight. F**k off."
Someone else wrote: "Imagine what kind of s**t happens off stage! I'm still in shock that actually happened."
While a third said: "Totally insulting inappropriate comments #TomGrennan #Brits2023 @SonyMusicUK [sic]."
However, Goulding has now leapt to the 27-year-old's defence, sharing her take on 't*t gate'.
Goulding tweeted: "A word on Brit/t*t gate … I was wearing a beautiful breastplate, thank you all for appreciating it ;)
"My friend @Tom_Grennan is 100% an ally and we were having a bit of fun. No offence taken, no harm intended - and no other interpretations necessary x."
Grennan has since thanked Goulding for her words and apologised if he'd caused any offence to viewers.
"Love ya @elliegoulding," he tweeted.
"What started as a joke between Ellie and I before we went on stage came out all wrong.
"The nerves got the better of us, but that does not excuse what was said, and I sincerely apologise to anyone who was offended - that's not me at all, and I am sorry x."
To be fair, amid the initial backlash, some people who thought it was much ado about nothing.
One person commented: "He stood on stage, in front of the world to tell her he loved what she was doing (with her outfit) while looking at her breast area and asked if they were real. Why? Where is the outrage?"
Topics: Music, Celebrity, Brit Awards
Jake Massey