Actor Samuel Johnson tells Molly Meldrum “hang up your hat” after mooning Elton John audience | CPT PPP Coverage

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Australian actor Samuel Johnson has criticised Molly Meldrum, telling the veteran music journalist to “hang up [his] hat” after mooning audiences at a recent Elton John show.

John performed at Melbourne’s AAMI Park stadium last Friday (January 13) as part of the singer’s broader Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. Partway through the show, John was joined on stage by Meldrum, who danced alongside the piano before his pants dropped to his knees – exposing his bare backside to thousands of concertgoers.

Days later, Meldrum apologised for the incident, blaming the mooning on a broken belt buckle. Meldrum, who has been friends with John since 1971, went on to express regret for the supposedly impromptu moment, telling Herald Sun that his appearance wasn’t planned and that he “shouldn’t have ventured on stage”.

If seeing Molly Meldrum’s bare bum was on your 2023 bingo card, here you go. (From tonight’s Elton John concert at AAMI Park Melbourne) pic.twitter.com/7B7OYZWhgl

— Tish (@oztish) January 13, 2023

Now, Johnson has aired his frustrations about Meldrum’s stunt during an appearance on The Morning Show yesterday (January 17). The actor, who portrayed Meldrum in the 2016 biographical series Molly, told Meldrum to “hang up [his] hat”, and expressed doubt over his apology and explanation. “I thought his apology was false”, Johnson said.

“I don’t believe it was a wardrobe malfunction. I believe that if it was a wardrobe malfunction, we would have seen his undies, not his bum.” Johnson went on to say that Meldrum “should not be allowed out in the PM”, and asked the whereabouts of his “minders”. He added: “Stop, Molly, stop!”

Elsewhere in the interview, Johnson recalled his acceptance speech during the 2017 Gold Logie Awards, when he took home the trophy for Most Popular TV Personality for his portrayal of Meldrum.

The actor claimed that, despite telling him “specifically not to come on stage”, Meldrum interrupted his speech. He had planned to use the opportunity to talk about Love Your Sister, the cancer charity he co-founded with his sister, who died from the disease in 2017.

“He cost my charity a million dollars that night,” Johnson said. “I wanted to make it about cancer and he wanted to make it about the network… It was an absolute catastrophe. He warbled in a very drunken fashion for eight whole minutes. Now I have seen him do it again at the Elton John concert.”

Meldrum’s cameo occurred at the first of two of John’s performances in Melbourne, with the second taking place last Saturday (January 14). The singer will next perform at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium tonight (January 18), before rounding out the tour’s Australian leg in Brisbane this weekend (January 21).