Federal Election Commission records reveal that TLC singer Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas donated $210.60 to WinRed, a Republican payment processor, $340.60 to the Trump National Committee JFC, and $486.54 to Never Surrender Inc., a group tied to Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign. The 55-year-old R&B artist quickly addressed the backlash from fans.
Clarifying the Donations
In a recent Instagram statement, Thomas emphasizes her stance: “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.”
She attributes the contributions to a misunderstanding. “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,” Thomas explains. “Two things I care deeply about as my dad is a veteran and everyone knows I love children.”
Thomas requests understanding: “grace as I navigate this,” adding, “I have learned a valuable lesson.”
Addressing Michelle Obama Repost Controversy
Thomas also tackles uproar over resharing a conspiracy theory falsely claiming Michelle Obama is transgender. In a video on Instagram, she expresses concern about the online reaction.
“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,” she states.
She describes the incident as accidental. “I had no clue that this repost had happened until I started getting phone calls and text messages from everybody.” Thomas recounts checking her page: “Now, mind you, I am not very computer-savvy, 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.”
“Again, I had no clue that something like this happened until I got all the calls,” she reiterates.
TLC Background and Past Statements
Thomas joined TLC in 1991, replacing Crystal Jones, and formed the iconic trio with Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes. The group achieved massive success with their 1999 hit “No Scrubs.”
Previously, in a 2017 Channel 4 News interview, Thomas faced criticism for responding to questions about Black Lives Matter with “all lives matter.” She elaborated: “I personally didn’t go to any marches or anything like that. For me, all lives matter, you know what I mean?”
“Because there is a time when different groups are targeted for different things. So I just think that what happened, even with the police brutality against these young Black boys and stuff like that — all of that kind of stuff is wrong,” she continued. “Even if it was a caucasian teen kid that this was happening to, it’s just not right. And some people will take that authoritative position and go crazy with it, obviously. I think that before people are hired in these positions, they need to do some kind of better background check or mental stability check on them to see if they can really handle being in a position like that.”
