<\/p>\n
Rozanda Thomas, Chilli of the 90s girl group TLC, was outed by a report in The Independent Saturday, as a quiet donor to MAGA causes<\/a>. Chilli, whose group TLC is embarking on a tour with Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue in August<\/a>, posted an apology to Instagram after The Independent, citing public Federal Election Commission records, linked her to multiple donations totaling $1,000 made \u201cto the Trump 2024 campaign and affiliated political action committees.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI WANT TO BE CLEAR: I am not MAGA<\/a> and do not support any of the many policies that are causing great harm to the American people,\u201d she wrote on that social media platform. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n I did not read the fine print. I thought I was supporting causes against human trafficking and for veterans.<\/p>\n rozanda \u201cchilli\u201d thomas<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Chilli, 55, had also shared a meme disparaging former first lady, Michelle Obama<\/a>, and in a video said she had only shared that post accidentally and had \u201cno clue\u201d that she\u2019d done so until she began to get phone calls about it. She said she has the \u201cutmost respect and admiration\u201d for Michelle Obama and wouldn\u2019t be \u201cdisrespectful to her or to any woman.\u201d<\/p>\n But taken together, the political donations, the social media post disrespecting Michelle Obama, her scheduled tour and even a long-ago retort of \u201call lives matter\u201d<\/a> should cause us to question the sincerity of Chilli\u2019s disavowal of MAGA politics. Assuming she believes what her political donations suggest that she believes, we can put her in a line that started with Ye, who flaunted his friendship with Trump during his first term<\/a> and proudly donned a Make America Great Again hat, and has continued with the likes of former reality TV star Amber Rose<\/a>, rapper Waka Flocka<\/a> and rapper Nicki Minaj<\/a>, who have expressed support or admiration for the president. Just as Chilli is not the first hip-hop adjacent Black celebrity to be outed as MAGA, the political motivations of such celebrities are more complicated than they may seem.<\/p>\n A closer look at this issue begins to highlight the intersections of capitalism, community, and consciousness in a way that many might not consider. But, first things first: there is a historical context which is needed here because this phenomenon is not entirely new. As Malcolm X put it in 1963<\/a>, Black entertainers and athletes should not be treated as if they are leaders who speak for the rest of Black America. Because, he said, white celebrities aren\u2019t treated as if they\u2019re leaders. In 2026 there are a plethora thought leaders on a variety of platforms who represent the varied and nuanced perspectives of Black Americans. And they represent the nuances and variety of Black Americans\u2019 political views better than some of the athletes and entertainers Democrats and Republicans have tapped as spokespeople.<\/p>\n Before we bash Chilli, then, for reports that she made multiple donations to political action committees aligned with Trump, we should remind ourselves that white celebrities who express political opinions \u2014 whether it\u2019s George Clooney<\/a>, Clint Eastwood<\/a>, Susan Sarandon<\/a> or Rob Schneider<\/a> \u2014 are more likely to be seen as individuals speaking for themselves and not leaders of white people. We\u2019re fostering unseriousness when we treat any entertainers, Black ones or white ones, as anything more than individuals with opinions who entertain. They are not leaders, and should not be seen as speaking for anyone but themselves.<\/p>\n But what their actions can help illustrate the disconnect that some Black entertainers have with Black people who aren\u2019t as famous or wealthy. The crux of modern Black political science is rooted in Michael Dawson\u2019s theory of linked fate<\/a>, which argues that Black people make political choices not necessarily based on their individual circumstance, but with a belief that their choices are tied to the overall well-being of Black people<\/a>. According to that theory, the expectation from community is that even if Black celebrities aren\u2019t on the same economic level as exactly as the average Black Americans, it was average Black Americans who helped launch them to fame and therefore they should utilize their platform to support the people and policies that won\u2019t hurt Black people.<\/p>\n This is why Black Americans have directed so much disappointment, if not anger, at Black celebrities who even seem to be aligning with Trump. For example, R&B singer Chrisette Michele<\/a>, who says she isn\u2019t a Trump fan, was ostracized for singing at an event during Trump\u2019s first inauguration in 2017. \u201cI thought people were never going to stop hating me<\/a>,\u201d she said in a Guardian story published in February 2025.<\/p>\n It is curious both how and who the public responds to on this point. Jay Z, for example, has been spotted sitting at an event with the likes of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner<\/a> without having to explicitly denounce the president or his administration. (It\u2019s unclear if the choice of seating was voluntary or not.) Eight years after Chrissete Michele was blasted for performing for Trump\u2019s first inauguration celebrations, Snoop Dogg<\/a> got relatively little pushback for doing the same during Trump\u2019s second. This double standard suggests sexism is also at play.<\/p>\n While lavishing praise on Trump in a recent podcast, television host Nick Cannon told Amber Rose<\/a> that \u201cDemocrats are the party of the KKK<\/a>\u201d and that \u201cRepublicans are the party that freed the slaves.\u201d With that remark, he displayed his incomplete understanding of history and context and showed why entertainers shouldn\u2019t be treated as political influencers. Luther Campbell, the former 2 Live Crew leader now running for Congress as a Democrat, told Cannon in an X post that \u201cyou left out everything that happened AFTER that<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n The notion of Black celebrities having opinions that seem to betray the conscience of the larger community is not new and must be considered with a wider, more critical lens and the historical context. It raises the discussion on who speaks for us and, more saliently, why does it appear that the funnel of voices is so narrow. The famous Black people endorsing Trump are entitled to their perspectives and opinions, as we all are, but we shouldn\u2019t treat them as experts no matter how big their platforms, how incredible their catalogues, or how loud their microphones may be.<\/p>\n The post TLC\u2019s Chilli seems to really be MAGA. But some of the anger at her feels unfair.<\/a> appeared first on MS NOW<\/a>.<\/p>\n