The video of the brawl involving two men was shared widely onlineJames Holt Senior Live and Breaking News Reporter and John Scheerhout
16:48, 01 Jan 2026Updated 16:48, 01 Jan 2026
The video of the brawl involving two men was shared widely online(Image: @DaveAtherton20/X)
The truth has been revealed about a social media video posted online that claimed to show two men scrapping in the Trafford Centre on New Year’s Eve (December 31).
Titled “It is all kicking off at the Trafford Centre in Manchester”, the video went on to show two men throwing punches at one another outside of a shop. People can be seen watching and filming the incident.
During another part of the clip, one of the men’s trousers can be seen partially falling down as children and families watch on. Multiple punches are thrown amid the violence before passers-by attempt to intervene.
The clip was viewed more than half a million times on X, formerly Twitter, and showed the incident erupt in the inside of a shopping centre complex. Users also asked Grok, the AI chat-bot, which stated the video appeared ‘to be from a brawl in the Trafford Centre on December 31, 2025.’
It added: “Reports describe a fight inside the mall involving punches and wrestling, matching key elements like a man’s trousers falling and bystanders including children”.
Grok AI chat-bot responded to users on X
The video was also the subject of news stories online. Other publications incorrectly reported the incident erupted both in the Trafford Centre and on New Year’s Eve.
However the Manchester Evening News has since verified the video was not taken in the Trafford Centre. It was actually filmed during an incident at the St David’s Dewi Sant shopping centre in Cardiff.
“Not the correct flooring, walls or lights for the trafford centre pal,” one person replied. Another said: “Definitely isn’t the Trafford centre.” A third commented: “That’s not the Trafford Centre but hey ho.”
A Trafford Centre spokesperson also confirmed that the incident did not occur at the Greater Manchester shopping mall. It’s also understood the video was not filmed on New Year’s Eve, but a number of years ago in 2021.
St David’s shopping centre was approached by the Manchester Evening News.