TLC's Chilli Denies She Is 'MAGA', Apologises For 'Accidental' Repost Accusing Michelle Obama of Being A Man

TLC singer Chilli publicly denied being a supporter of Donald Trump on Saturday in Atlanta, after records showed she had donated to his 2024 campaign and accidentally reposted a conspiracy video about Michelle Obama on Instagram. The 55‑year‑old star, whose full name is Rozonda Thomas, told her 1.3 million followers that she is 'not MAGA' and apologised for the repost, which questioned the former first lady's gender.

The news came after US campaign finance filings, cited by the Independent, listed Chilli as having given several hundred dollars to organisations aligned with Trump during the current presidential cycle. The donations included $210.60 to WinRed, a Republican fundraising platform, $486.54 to Never Surrender Inc., which is associated with Trump, and $340.60 to the Trump National Committee JFC. Those disclosures triggered a wave of backlash online, particularly among fans who had long assumed the Grammy‑winning R&B group TLC leaned firmly away from Trump's brand of politics.

In her Instagram statement, Chilli tried to draw a sharp line between what the records showed and what she says she intended to do.

'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. She then addressed the payments directly, saying she had believed she was backing charity work rather than a political machine. '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.'

For context, WinRed and the other entities listed in the filings are standard vehicles for Republican political fundraising, and there is no suggestion in the records that the money was earmarked for anything else. Chilli did not dispute that the funds reached Trump‑aligned groups, but cast her actions as a cautionary tale about not scrutinising online appeals closely enough.

She went on to root that explanation in her personal life, noting that she 'loves children' and 'cares deeply' about her father, who is a veteran. The singer framed those details as the reason she was drawn to the appeals in the first place. 'I have learned a valuable lesson and ask for grace as I navigate this,' she concluded, signing off 'Love, Chilli', followed by a heart emoji.

Trump's team did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to Page Six, and there has been no public statement from any of the fundraising committees named in the filings about refunding or redirecting the donations. It remains unclear whether Chilli has formally asked for the money back, and without such confirmation, any assumption about behind‑the‑scenes efforts to reverse the payments should be taken with a grain of salt.

Chilli Confronts Fallout From Michelle Obama Conspiracy Repost

If the donations raised eyebrows, it was the separate controversy involving Michelle Obama that pushed Chilli to record a second, more personal video. Earlier this month, she appeared to have shared a clip promoting a long‑running, baseless conspiracy about the former first lady's gender. The repost was quickly noticed and widely criticised.

In a follow‑up video, Chilli stressed that she had 'the utmost respect for Obama' and insisted she would 'never say or do anything that is disrespectful to her or to any woman.' She described herself as relatively unsophisticated when it comes to social media, saying the share, like, and repost buttons on Instagram sit 'very close' together on her screen.

'I have no clue that the repost had happened until I started getting phone calls and messages from everybody and I immediately went to my page to see what was going on,' she said. Chilli claimed she had been scrolling when her thumb 'hit the repost button,' calling the share an accident rather than a political statement.

She also reminded followers that she backed Barack Obama's presidential bids, saying she supported him during the 2008 and 2012 campaigns and had been a fan of Michelle Obama's health and fitness initiatives in schools. 'I supported the organization that Michelle had in the schools for exercise for the kids,' she said, positioning her past actions as evidence that she would not deliberately amplify a video attacking the former first lady.

Fans Split Over Chilli's Explanation And Political Distance

Reaction among Chilli's audience has been mixed. Under her posts, a number of fans rushed to defend her, arguing that Instagram's interface makes accidental reposts common. 'This happens to me all the time! Instagram needs to remove that repost button,' one supporter wrote. Another added: 'I mistakenly reposted things plenty of times. I believe her.'

Others remained wary, particularly over the campaign donations. For some listeners, the idea that a public figure could move hundreds of dollars to political committees without understanding who they were backing strained credulity, even if they accepted her account of the Obama clip as a genuine mis‑tap.

That tension sits at the heart of Chilli's attempt to reassert control over her image. As a member of one of the most influential girl groups of the 1990s, she has long traded on a public persona built around empowerment, loyalty, and a certain straight‑talking honesty. Fans who grew up on No Scrubs and Creep now expect that same clarity on politics, especially when money and misinformation intersect.