Geri Halliwell drops Christian Horner’s name in Dior video

Geri Halliwell has dropped her married name in a video for Dior, several months after her husband, Christian Horner, was embroiled in allegations of controlling behaviour involving a female employee.

The former Spice Girl, who has publicly stood by her husband, introduces herself at the start of the short promotional video for the fashion house, saying: “C’est moi Geri, Geri Halliwell. Enchantée”, which translates as: “It’s me, Geri, Geri Halliwell. Pleased to meet you.”

It follows an internal investigation into the Red Bull Formula 1 team principal, which led to him being cleared of any wrongdoing and allowed to continue on in his role.

Horner, 50, who has always denied the claims made against him, said in March that he and his family have been through a “testing time” after a female colleague made allegations of controlling behaviour, but he and his wife continued to put on a united front.

The 51-year-old singer, who goes by the name Geri Halliwell-Horner, took on Horner’s name when the couple married in 2015 and had recently begun to use the double-barrelled version.

Her Instagram handle remains @‌gerihalliwellhorner and there is no suggestion that the couple have split.

In promotional videos and interviews in 2023, she has referred to herself as both “Geri” and “Geri Halliwell-Horner”, such as for Blue Peter appearances or for a BBC special on her book, Rosie Frost and the Falcon Queen.

However, in the Dior footage, Halliwell used her maiden name as a greeting, before exploring a collection at Drummond Castle in Perthshire, Scotland.

The video was shared to the fashion brand’s 46.1 million Instagram followers as well as the former singer’s 1.4 million.

‘Sad news’

On X, formerly known as Twitter, one user wrote that the apparent snub might be a “subliminal message for divorce” and another added “sad news”.

Horner previously said that Halliwell has been “phenomenally supportive” through the scandal, adding that the “intrusion on my family is now enough”.

While Halliwell has not publicly spoken about the scandal, Horner insisted his family “need to move forward and focus on what we are here for.”

Days after the scandal became public earlier in the year, the married couple held hands while arriving for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The Red Bull chief was seen kissing and embracing Halliwell in front of photographers at the event.

Later, Horner’s Mother’s Day tribute to his wife on Instagram was mocked by comments online accusing him of putting a “PR spin” on the scandal.

Representatives for Halliwell have been contacted for comment.