Michelle Williams has called it quits with her pastor fiancé. The Destiny’s Child singer made the news public in a surprise announcement on Instagram Friday morning and dropped a new single in the process.
“I still remain fearless,” she wrote on her Instagram Story Dec. 7 in a since-deleted message regarding her breakup with pastor Chad Johnson. “I guess I still remain single! Things didn’t work out. The healing that needs to take place is a must! I don’t wanna destroy another relationship. Blessings to him, his family and ministry. #FEARLESS.”
“Fearless” is also the name of the singer’s new song that she released accompanying the announcement of her newly single status.
(@michellewilliams/Instagram)
The sudden split follows a bout of controversy for the couple. During an episode of their OWN reality show, “Chad Loves Michelle,” the pair recounted to their therapist a disagreement that led to some low blows from both parties.
“He talked about a moment of how I said, ‘It’s because I’m black and you’re white and you don’t know how black people talk,'” Williams explained. “So he didn’t like that. … And this — not to justify — but yesterday, when we had the disagreement he said, ‘Did you take your meds today?’ Now that!”
Williams, who has battled depression for years, told Johnson she thought he shouldn’t ever stoop that low, and Johnson felt his fiancée shouldn’t go that low when it comes to race.
The remark generated heavy controversy onlin,e and Williams was forced to address the blowback on V-103’s “Frank & Wanda in The Morning” in November.
“That conversation that we were talking about happened the night before. It was not filmed, so people don’t know what I was saying to Chad,” said Michelle. “Now, I didn’t like when he said that. People also did not play and hear when he apologized. He said, ‘I should have not said that.’
“I think that’s what irritates us,” she added. “We are a soundbite generation. We won’t take the time and the work and the effort to actually watch the whole episode. … He apologized and I apologized for cutting. ‘Cause I got my mama in me. I can cut you with my words.”
Williams and Johnson met in March 2017 during a spiritual retreat the pastor ran in Arizona. After bonding over faith, the pair began dating and got engaged by April 2018, but by July Williams entered treatment for her depression. She’s also revealed she’s called off their engagement several times before because she didn’t feel worthy of love.
While Johnson has remained silent on the demise of his engagement, commenters have been flooding his Instagram comments hoping it’s not true.
“Say Michelle’s tweet ain’t so brother… y’all have to FIX this.”
“DAMN i was routing for you.”
“What’s going on? Is the post true from Michelle? I truly hope not.”
“💔💔”
Neither Williams’ or Johnson’s representatives have issued comments on the breakup.
