John Legend, 45, has seemingly jumped into the fray amid the online battle between Beyoncé’s mother and right-wing provocateur Candace Owens.
Tina Knowles, 70, and Owens, 35, clashed over rumors the singer was paid by Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign to endorse the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate’s run for the White House.
“The lie is that Beyonce was paid 10 million dollars to speak at a rally in Houston for Vice President Kamala Harris,” Knowles wrote in her Instagram caption.
“When In Fact: Beyonce did not receive a penny for speaking at a Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris Rally in Houston,” the Texas-bred entrepreneur continued.
Knowles also shares an Instagram video originally shared by Owens where she claimed that Beyoncé made money from the Harris campaign which was “flagged” and “taken down” by the Meta-owned platform.
Since sharing her message about her daughter, Knowles’ post has collected over 900 comments, including one from Legend, the R&B singer who performed at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in August.
“Let em know, Ms Tina! We all performed/appeared for free because we care about our nation’s future,” Legend commented.
One fan of Legend posted, “We knew that Sir! And Thank You!!!” A like-minded supporter added, “Yes! We care about America.”
Knowles responded, “I know you care deeply about this country.”
However, other Instagram users did not have the same appreciation for the 12-time Grammy Award winner’s take on the political direction of the United States.
“Shut up, John. Y’all are so out of touch from the real world and what we deal with. FOH, all of y’all tried to sell us up the river,” one person declared.
Another person posted, “Says the man’s wife who bullies teens and lies about an abortion, [you’re a] joke.”
A similar comment read, “He cares about the nation’s future but his wife is best [known] for bullying children and telling them to unalive themselves. The jokes are writing themselves here.”
Legend married “Sports Illustrated” swimsuit model Chrissy Teigen, 38, in September 2013. The celebrity couple have four children together, ranging from two years old to eight years old.
Teigen has a long history of bullying allegations. In particular, reality television personality Courtney Stodden accused Legend’s wife of cyberbullying them on X (then known as Twitter).
A 16-year-old Stodden met 51-year-old married acting coach Doug Hutchison over the internet before the teenager married Hutchison in May 2011.
According to Glamour, Stodden claimed in May 2021 that Teigen began harassing them over their marriage to “The Green Mile” actor through direct messages.
“She wouldn’t just publicly tweet about wanting me to take ‘a dirt nap’ but would privately DM me and tell me to kill myself,” Stodden said.
“Couples Therapy” season two cast member also claimed Teigen told them, “I can’t wait for you to die.”
Teigen publicly apologized for her past behavior. The “Lip Sync Battle” presenter posted a lengthy message on X expressing her remorse for being an “insecure, attention seeking troll.”
“I am ashamed and completely embarrassed at my behavior but that is nothing compared to how I made Courtney feel. I have worked so hard to give you guys joy and be beloved and the feeling of letting you down is nearly unbearable, truly,” Teigen tweeted.
She added, “I have tried to connect with Courtney privately but since I publicly fueled all this, I want to also publicly apologize. I’m so sorry, Courtney. I hope you can heal now knowing how deeply sorry I am.”
Stodden accepted Teigen’s apology but noted that they “never heard from her or her camp in private.” The longtime backer of Republican president-elect Donald Trump also suggested Teigen’s real motives could have been saving her relationships with certain brands.
According to Page Six, the Bloomingdale department store chain canceled Teigen’s “Cravings by Chrissy” cookware line in the wake of the bad publicity about her alleged bullying.
In addition to Stodden’s accusations, the television personality faced more bullying complaints from other celebrities such as “Teen Mom” star Farrah Abraham and “Project Runway” alum Michael Costello.
However, a 2021 article from Business Insider claimed that the Instagram direct messages Costello alleged were from Teigen supposedly calling him “racist” were likely manipulated.
Inconsistencies in the screenshots Costello publicized, such as a missing verified check mark and an incorrect profile picture, set off red flags. Legend defended his wife against that particular gripe.
In June 2021, he tweeted, “Chrissy apologized for her public tweets, but after her apology, Mr. Costello fabricated a DM exchange between them. This exchange was made up, completely fake, never happened.”
Four days before Legend posted his tweet about Costello allegedly fabricating DMs, Teigan published an essay on Medium about her “awful tweets” resurfacing.
“I’ve apologized publicly to one person, but there are others — and more than just a few — who I need to say I’m sorry to. I’m in the process of privately reaching out to the people I insulted,” Teigen wrote.
The self-described internet troll added, “There is simply no excuse for my past horrible tweets. My targets didn’t deserve them. No one does. Many of them needed empathy, kindness, understanding, and support, not my meanness masquerading as a kind of casual, edgy humor.”
“The truth is, I’m no longer the person who wrote those horrible things. I grew up, got therapy, got married, had kids, got more therapy, experienced loss and pain, got more therapy, and experienced more life,” she insisted.
Teigan’s bullying scandal came to a head in Oct. 2021 when she was questioned about the various allegations during an interview on NBC’s “The Today Show” morning program.
The Utah-born mother of four discussed her July 2021-dated Instagram post where she addressed joining the so-called “cancel club” following the revelations of her problematic social media activity.
“You learn so much in the moments where you do lose so much. Your world is kinda turned upside down,” Teigen stated. “For me, it was a big moment of like, ‘Wow, I need to find out how I can be better, how I can grow from this, learn from this.”
The former “Bring the Funny” judge also said she became a “stronger” and “better” person in the aftermath of her public condemnation which included reaching 100 days of being sober.
