Rozonda Thomas of TLC at the 2026 iHeartRadio Music Awards held at Dolby Theatre on March 26, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty Images) 
By ESSENCE Editors ·Updated March 29, 2026 < /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… Nicki Minaj), so-called enlightenment and more. That said, it’s good that Thomas decided to speak out to offer clarity and make sure people know that her focus is on love, not division.
Now, whether people will accept it and offer the grace that she’s asking for remains to be seen. A tour is coming, so some might say she’s attempting to save face. But either way, it’s best to clear the air and your name, no matter what people may think of it. To sit in silence as people connect her and her character with Donald Trump would have been more detrimental and would continue the whispers that would inevitably affect her and, in turn, TLC’s legacy. In this day and age, it’s no longer acceptable for public figures to sit quietly amid rumors like this. It’s now crucial for them, and for all of us, to denounce such pervasive, dangerous principles or risk being seen as a proponent of them.
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