I remember Lisa really getting into it, checking on the other two crew members. And honestly, I think they were jealous of her. Chilli was especially upset because Lisa had slept with Dallas Austin—her man! Wait, what? Are you telling me one of the reasons TLC had so much drama was because Lisa “Left Eye” hooked up with Chilli’s boyfriend? And to make things even wilder, Lisa told Chilli they used protection because she knew Chilli had herpes. Yep, the same thing Usher was later accused of spreading during their relationship.
And, of course, Suge Knight just couldn’t resist stirring the pot. According to him, Lisa said something like, “But you know you got herpes, so I made sure he put on a rubber. So, we’re all good.”
Now, TLC—Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas—was one of the biggest groups of the ’90s. Nine Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100? Iconic. But let’s not forget, before Chilli joined, the original “C” in TLC was Crystal Jones. And her exit? Drama central.
You probably remember how messy it was—it even made it into their biopic. According to the film, Crystal was cut from the group after an audition for L.A. Reid. But here’s the kicker: Crystal later told Rolling Out that audition never even happened. Instead, they performed for Perri “Pebbles” Reid, who had just started a production and management company.
Crystal said Pebbles was all about control and manipulation, especially when it came to contracts. Crystal wanted to take hers home to have her mom look it over, but Pebbles shut that down quick. No way, no how. So, Crystal refused to sign, thinking the other girls would at least back her up or ask her why. Nope. T-Boz and Left Eye started pulling away, having secret meetings without her. Next thing she knew, they told her they didn’t want her in the group anymore.
Ouch. But the drama didn’t stop there. After Chilli joined, things got even crazier, and it’s all been pretty well-documented. For example, a lot of the tension with Left Eye is explored in the documentary series Hopelessly in Love, which dives into her explosive relationship with NFL star Andre Rison.
The documentary dives into Lisa’s rumored connection with Tupac, who was good friends with Andre. It explores Lisa and Andre’s rocky, on-again, off-again relationship, marked by constant fighting and long breakups. Everyone featured in the documentary, including Andre himself, admitted that Lisa was in love with Tupac. They even called him her soulmate, saying that if Tupac had ever been interested, Lisa would have jumped at the chance to be with him. However, despite years of rumors, all parties agreed that Lisa and Tupac never slept together. Andre, for his part, claimed Lisa always denied it but admitted he never fully believed her. Interestingly, Tupac reportedly told Lisa early on, “Never let me sleep with you,” and the two stuck to that boundary.
Lisa and Andre eventually got engaged, but she quickly called off the wedding, and they went their separate ways for good. Later, when Lisa decided to leave TLC to pursue her own creative vision, she connected with Suge Knight at Death Row Records. Their professional relationship soon turned romantic, and Suge hasn’t been shy about spilling details. In a podcast he recorded from jail, Suge opened up about their time together and shared some juicy TLC drama, too.
Suge praised Lisa, aka Left Eye, for her boldness and drive, but he also made a controversial claim: he said Lisa doesn’t get the praise she deserves because her death wasn’t the result of a shooting, like Tupac’s or Biggie’s. Suge also touched on the strange events leading up to her death. In the weeks before, Lisa believed she was being followed by a spirit. Then, tragically, a van she was in accidentally struck and killed a young boy. Lisa took responsibility for his hospital bills and funeral costs, later noticing that his last name, Lopez, was the same as hers. She felt the spirit meant to take her but claimed the boy instead. Not long after, she died in a car crash during a road trip.
As for their relationship, Suge shared a memorable story about how Lisa essentially moved in with him unannounced. “One day, she just showed up,” he said. “I thought she had a bag or two, maybe some food. But when I told the doormen to bring her stuff up, it took four of them to carry it all. She had suitcases, everything—she just moved in.”
In the documentary, Suge Knight shared an interesting story about Lisa. He recalled, “One time, she came to one of my high-rise apartments. She gave me a hug, and I sat back down, lit up a cigar. The doorbell rang, so I got up to answer it, and there they were—her clothes and suitcases, all packed up on carts. She never left. She just showed up and stayed. We started spending time together, and she turned out to be a great person. Even before it turned into something more, I really cared about her. But I knew her fiancé, Andre Rison, too. We were cool, but I still had feelings for Lisa.”
Suge also dropped a bombshell about L.A. Reid. According to him, Lisa was the only one in TLC who didn’t sleep with him. Lisa allegedly told him that the other members had been involved with him, which seemed to confirm what Pebbles had hinted at about Chilli’s affair with her husband. Suge went on to mention how the other members of the group were pretty jealous of Left Eye.
The most jaw-dropping part, however, was Suge’s story about the drama within TLC, especially when it came to Dallas Austin. Chilli and Austin had started dating in the mid-90s after he worked on some of TLC’s biggest hits like “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg” and “Creep.” Things got serious between them, but according to Suge, that didn’t stop Austin from having an affair with Lisa. He claimed that Austin slept with Left Eye, even while he was with Chilli, and when Chilli found out, it didn’t go well.
Naturally, Chilli was upset. Suge mentioned that Chilli confronted Lisa about what had happened, and Lisa’s response was pretty blunt: “You know you have herpes, so I made sure he wore a condom. We’re all good.”
It’s wild to think about, especially considering that Chilli later started dating Usher in the early 2000s, a man also accused of having herpes. Usher and Chilli met when he signed to LaFace Records, where Chilli was already a part of the label. Usher, having been mentored by Diddy, moved to New York at just 14 and stayed with him. He and Chilli eventually started dating, with Chilli even appearing in his music videos like “You Remind Me” and “You Got It Bad.”
As for their breakup, Chilli hinted that cheating was a big factor. In an interview on the Big Tigger Show, she said, “He did the ultimate no-no. You don’t do that, and he did that. I’ll never take him back. It’s over. He really messed things up.”
Is it possible that Usher actually got herpes from Chilli, not the other way around like people have always assumed? Honestly, I really don’t know.
As for the whole situation with Dallas, it apparently caused a lot of drama within the group, and some say it was a big reason why Lisa decided to go solo. There’s even been talk that Lisa had already recorded her solo album, Supernova, but Chilli convinced L.A. Reid not to release it as some kind of payback for Lisa leaving the group and walking away from a huge tour payout.
It’s tragic that Lisa passed away, but what I’m really wondering is: what exactly was Suge Knight trying to do when he dropped that bomb about Lisa? Why would he randomly say that the group had issues because Lisa slept with Chilli’s man, and then mention that it should be fine since Lisa used protection and has herpes?
That whole situation definitely sparked a lot of talk on social media, especially since it came from Suge. But why do you think he’s sharing this now? Is he just trying to stay in the spotlight, or does he actually know something we don’t? And while we’re at it, what are your thoughts on all the drama within TLC? Let me know in the comments below!
