Rozonda Thomas, Chilli of the 90s girl group TLC, was outed by a report Saturday in The Independent, as a quiet donor to MAGA causes. Chilli, whose group TLC is embarking on a tour with Salt-N-Pepa and En Vogue in August, posted an apology to Instagram after The Independent, citing public Federal Election Commission records, linked her to multiple donations totaling $1,000 made “to the Trump 2024 campaign and affiliated political action committees.”

“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 wrote on Instagram. “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.”

Chilli, 55, had also shared a meme disparaging former first lady Michelle Obama, and in a video said she had only shared that post accidentally and had “no clue” that she’d done so until she began to get phone calls about it. She said she has the “utmost respect and admiration” for Obama and wouldn’t be “disrespectful to her or to any woman.”

But taken together, the political donations, the social media post disrespecting Obama, her scheduled tour and even a long-ago retort of “all lives matter” should cause us to question the sincerity of Chilli’s 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 Donald Trump during his first term and proudly donned a Make America Great Again hat, and has continued with the likes of former reality TV star Amber Rose, rapper Waka Flocka Flame and rapper Nicki Minaj, 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.

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 that is needed here because this phenomenon is not entirely new. As Malcolm X put it in 1963, 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’t treated as if they’re leaders. In 2026, there are a plethora of thought leaders across a variety of platforms who represent the diverse and nuanced perspectives of Black Americans.  And they represent the nuances and variety of Black Americans’ political views better than some of the athletes and entertainers Democrats and Republicans have tapped as spokespeople.

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 — whether it’s George Clooney, Clint Eastwood, Susan Sarandon or Rob Schneider — are more likely to be seen as individuals speaking for themselves and not leaders of white people. We’re 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.

But what their actions can help illustrate is the disconnect that some Black entertainers have with Black people who aren’t as famous or wealthy. The crux of modern Black political science is rooted in Michael Dawson’s theory of linked fate, 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. According to that theory, the expectation from community is that even if Black celebrities aren’t on the same economic level as the average Black American, it is average Black Americans who helped launch them to fame, and they should therefore use their platforms to support the people and policies that will not hurt Black communities.

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, who says she isn’t a Trump fan, was ostracized for singing at an event during Trump’s first inauguration in 2017. “I thought people were never going to stop hating me,” she said in a Guardian story published in February 2025.

It is curious both how and to whom the public responds on this point. Jay-Z, for example, has been spotted sitting at an event with the likes of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner without having to explicitly denounce the president or his administration. (It’s unclear whether the choice of seating was voluntary.) Eight years after Michele was blasted for performing for Trump’s first inauguration celebrations, Snoop Dogg got relatively little criticism for doing the same during Trump’s second. This double standard suggests sexism is also at play.

While lavishing praise on Trump in a recent podcast, television host Nick Cannon told Amber Rose that “Democrats are the party of the KKK” and that “Republicans are the party that freed the slaves.” With that remark, he displayed his incomplete understanding of history and context and showed why entertainers shouldn’t 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 “you left out everything that happened AFTER that.”

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’t treat them as experts no matter how big their platforms, how incredible their catalogues or how loud their microphones may be.

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