Singer Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas of TLC fame is under fire after it emerged that she donated to Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
Thomas says she did not intend to donate to Trump, but to causes working with veterans and those working against human trafficking.
She posted a statement on her Instagram, which reads: “I WANT TO BE CLEAR: I am not MAGA and do not support any of the many policies that are causing great harm to the American people,” Thomas began.
“I made a mistake too many make: I did not read the fine print. I thought I was supporting causes against human trafficking and for veterans,” she continued.
“Two things I care deeply about, as my dad is a veteran, and everyone knows I love children. I have learned a valuable lesson and ask for grace as I navigate this. Love, Chilli.”
According to People Magazine, Federal donation records show that a person named Rozonda Thomas donated nearly $900 (R15 428) to WinRed, the payment processor for Republican campaign donations, the Trump National Committee JFC, and Never Surrender Inc., which has direct ties to Trump, in 2024.
Chilli’s mistaken repost about Michelle Obama
The second slide of her post addresses another mistake Thomas made.
As a person who is not computer-savvy, Thomas said she mistakenly reposted an offensive picture of the former First Lady of the US, Michelle Obama, while scrolling through Instagram. She only realised her mistake when people started asking her about it.
“Let me say this first: I have the utmost respect and admiration for Michelle Obama, and I would never say or do anything that is disrespectful to her or to any woman. I would never do that.”
“I had no clue that this repost had happened until I started getting phone calls and text messages from everybody, and I immediately went to my page to see what was going on,” Thomas said.
“So I’m looking for this repost button, and I see that all of these buttons are very, very close to each other, and clearly, I was scrolling, and my thumb hit the repost button,” she said.
TLC’s upcoming tour
These controversies come after TLC, En Vogue, and Salt-N-Peppa recently announced that they are going on tour together for the ‘It’s Iconic’ tour.
The three groups were at their peak in the 90s, and they will be bringing back the hits that made them fan favourites.