Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, one-third of the girl group TLC, landed in hot water recently for distancing herself from the Black Lives Matter movement by declaring “All lives matter.”
Chilli and Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, the surviving members of the famed ’90s R&B band, have been making the rounds to promote their new album and when asked about their affiliation with BLM, Chilli said she hadn’t participated in any marches.
“For me, all lives matter,” she tells the UK’s Channel 4 News Tuesday, May 9. “Because there’s a time when different groups are targeted for different things. I just think that just the whole … even with the police brutality against these young Black boys and stuff like that and, all of that kind of stuff is wrong. Even if it was a Caucasian teen kid this was happening to, it’s just not right.”
Chilli addressed the issue of police brutality by saying regulations need to be in place to ensure officers don’t abuse their power.
“Some people take that authoritative position and go crazy with it, obviously,” she adds. “I think that before people are higher in these positions, they need to do a background check or mental stability kind of check on them to see if they can really handle being in a position like that.”
“That color sticks together, too, blue,” T-Boz chimes in. “They stick together. They’re not gonna tell on each other.”
T-Boz did not give an opinion on Black Lives Matter but said of President Donald Trump, “I don’t care … God is my president.”
Twitter shared a slew of reactions dissing Chilli and her statements.
@Channel4News Left Eye was always my fave for a reason pic.twitter.com/Wjf7UzxuPa
— Whitney ??? (@blackgirlicon) May 10, 2017
@Channel4News Reporter: “Do you guys support Black Lives Matter?”
TLC: “AlL lIvEs MatTeR” pic.twitter.com/fx8EP2enWr— Smiling=no medal (@Mila_Mani_Shook) May 10, 2017
@Channel4News Please stick to the rivers and the lane that you’re used to. ?❌ pic.twitter.com/37p7of3lq5
— Lincoln Mondy (@LincolnMondy) May 10, 2017
@Channel4News Chilli has missed the point. We know all lives matter. The title is supposed to be sarcastically “Black Lives Matter TOO.”
— JF (@JF_1010) May 9, 2017
@Channel4News Left Eye is rolling in ha grave. she would never.
— ㅤ (@babyheirandafro) May 10, 2017
