L: LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 09: Matthew Lawrence (L) and Chilli Thomas attend as Lifetime Celebrates Black Excellence with their Female Creatives and Talent at the +Play Partner House on March 09, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Randy Shropshire/Getty Images for Lifetime) R: ATLANTA, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 14: (EDITOR’S NOTE: Image created using a star filter) Usher attends The Black Music And Entertainment Walk Of Fame Honors Usher at Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame on February 14, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/FilmMagic)
And there ya have it! Sources who spoke to PEOPLE and TMZ seemingly confirmed that Chilli peeped Usher’s stroll down memory lane. However, the TLC star is allegedly “unbothered” about the world knowing she turned down his marriage proposal.
A source close to Chilli reportedly told PEOPLE: “Chilli is unbothered by the recent hoopla involving her past relationship.”
Meanwhile, “sources with direct knowledge” shared similar sentiments with TMZ, saying she hasn’t given the marriage proposal story a second thought.
In fact, the TLC singer has been living it up in Jamaica with her new man, ‘Boy Meets World’ actor Matthew Lawrence. The pair enjoyed a dual birthday and Valentine’s Day getaway at the Sandals Dunn’s River resort this week. Lawrence celebrated his 44th birthday on Feb. 11.
Keep scrolling to see a few baecation photos.
For context, Usher revealed he was heartbroken after Chilli shut down his attempts to marry her in the early 2000s. The former pair, who are seven years apart in age, reportedly began dating in 2001. Their relationship ended in 2004, sometime after Chilli rejected his proposal. Her rejection caused him “a great deal of pain,” Usher told PEOPLE.
“I was a young man, and she had very specific rules that didn’t work for me,” Usher told PEOPLE. “We were missing each other. I really did want to have a different type of relationship where she was there with me, and she couldn’t be. She didn’t believe that I was actually in love with her as much as I was.”
Chilli told the same outlet last year that she and Usher dealt with each other on and off after the split. However, in his recent interview, the ‘Confessions’ singer said though they remained “cool,” he kept his emotions guarded after the failed proposal.
“We were cool with each other, but I was very careful with that. I really did love that girl, and I was like, I don’t want to play with you. Like, ‘I can’t give you what I gave you. I did everything that I thought you would’ve wanted me to do, but I guess my good wasn’t great enough.”
Despite dropping this truth bomb via PEOPLE, Usher himself has moved on from the 20-year-old split. After putting on the most-watched Super Bowl performance ever, he secretly married his girlfriend Jennifer Goicoechea in a Las Vegas drive-thru ceremony.
