John Legend, the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter born in Springfield, Ohio, has come under fire for recent comments about welcoming Haitian immigrants to his homeland.
On September 13, Legend gave a speech about the impact of social media after the city drew attention for Donald Trump’s baseless claims regarding migrants consuming livestock.
In a social media rant, the 45-year-old singer-songwriter referenced the “interesting man Donald J. Trump,” who repeated these baseless allegations during the recent presidential debate last Tuesday.
“You can imagine some of the challenges of integrating into a new community,” said the “All of Me” singer.
“New language, new culture, new food preferences. All sorts of reasons why it can be a growing pain,” he continued.
“We had about 15,000 immigrants move into my town of 60,000 people. Now you can say, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of people for a town that used to be 60,000. That’s a 25% increase. Yeah.'”
The singer, whose net worth is estimated at $100 million, added, “Why don’t we love each other? I grew up in the Christian tradition, we were taught to love our neighbors as ourselves and treat strangers as if they were Christ.”
The legend goes on to say that people should stop “spreading hateful, xenophobic, racist lies.”
Springfield, Ohio native John Legend discusses the influx of Haitian immigrants, the spread of misinformation and disinformation about them, and recent attacks by Trump and his allies. pic.twitter.com/xuWOjowCKe
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) September 12, 2024
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Outraged people on social media in the neighborhood expressed anger at the “Ordinary People” singer, who they said was out of touch, trying to give advice on local issues while being miles away.
His video was filmed at the $17.5 million luxury mansion he owns with supermodel wife Chrissy Teigen.
According to X user @thevivafrei, “Hey John, where do you live now? Oh yeah. In Beverly Hills.”
@laissez_claire wrote: “It’s arrogant to think that because you’re a celebrity your voice is more important than the people who actually live it.”
“Is this guy wearing a robe in his Beverly Hills house while talking about the ‘hardships of growing up’ in the small town community he left. UNBELIEVABLE,” commented @0xNOONER.
“These people are insufferable,” wrote @IMBillyGee, while @ofcrdeonjoseph tweeted, “He was bought and paid. Just another rich elitist living in luxury and trying to tell you to be comfortable in hell.”
@NateArdle exposed Legend, saying, “I grew up in Springfield. John Legend went to high school with my brother. He’s never lived anywhere like Springfield in his entire life. How dare he say what’s best for the residents there, including my mother.”
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