TLC did what they promised and put together an album with all that Kickstarter money that they raised. Now the Hip Hop Group is busy promoting their album and trying to get fans excited for the duo to put out new music. It was during one interview that Chilli responded to an interviewer's question, managing to make a lot of TLC fans mad and now she's speaking out about the incident.
Will TLC lose fans over All Lives Matter comment?
While talking to UK’s Channel 4 News about their brand new, self-titled album, the interviewer asked about the Black Lives Matter movement that has grown in the US and the UK.
Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas told the interviewer that she hasn't bothered to go to any of the BLM marches. Then, to make matters worse, she proclaimed, "But for me, all lives matter, you know what I mean?"
How are TLC, proud pioneers of social consciousness in the 90s, gon' be so ignorant on the Black Lives Matter movement. Beyond disappointed. pic.twitter.com/ixvHfzM0Nq
— ☁️SARASWATI☁️ (@saraswatiuk) May 9, 2017
It's unclear if Chilli was trying to be more relatable to other ethnic groups or if she was going for headlines, either way, many are calling her statement a mistake. Despite Chilli's explanation that she cares about police brutality, whether the victim is black or white, many latched on to the infamous "All Lives Matter" catchphrase.
The same one that usually indicates that the person saying it really doesn't care to address or do anything about the documented increased number of violent encounters between black men and police in comparison to any other race.
T-Boz to the rescue... or not!
Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins was also at the interview and it looks like she tried to step in and help Chilli out with the controversial question, only to stick her foot in her mouth as well.
In responding, T-Boz commented that she doesn't "care about Donald Trump" and that while she feels sorry for the people that his presidency affects, she just doesn't care about him. Way to let people know that you aren't affected and because of that, you aren't willing to do anything about it.
With so many celebrities, namely black celebrities, siding with the Black Lives Matter movement, it seems that the members of TLC may have caused themselves a bit of a PR problem.
After learning about TLC's comments, specifically Chilli's All Lives Matter moment, many fans of TLC expressed their disappointment, anger and, even outrage on Twitter. Many felt that they were duped into supporting the group's Kickstarter album only to find out that TLC doesn't represent the same ideals as their fans.
Later, Chilli tried to clear up her controversial comments by saying that she didn't mean to undermine the Black Lives Matter movement. She just wanted to include everyone who had been a victim of police brutality and not single out just the black men whom the BLM movement represents.
Do you think Chilli was out of line for her comments regarding the Black Lives Matter movement and her All Lives Matter response? Sound off in the comments below.
