News

Kamala Harris’ campaign finally breaks silence on multi-million celebrity payments

A member of Kamala Harris’ campaign is finally speaking out amid accusations by critics that celebrities were paid millions to endorse the vice president during her failed presidential campaign.

Adrienne Elrod, who served as a senior spokesperson for the campaign, told Deadline they do not pay celebrities.

‘We have never paid any artist and performer. We have never paid a fee to that person,’ she said.

According to her, the campaign is required to pay for ‘any ancillary costs for that performance’ which could include paying for travel to band members.

‘There are laws that have to be followed that we have followed religiously on this campaign,’ she said.

The laws she was referring to involve Federal Election Commission rules which require campaigns to pay fair market value for the costs of events.

Companies cannot pay campaigns directly without being reimbursed and when an individual does pick up the cost, it is still considered an in-kind contribution which faces legal limits.

Elrod’s comments to Deadline come after Oprah Winfrey spoke out this week to explain the $1 million fee paid to her production company for a town hall event supporting Harris.

Before the election, Winfrey’s Harpo Productions helped stage a star-studded town hall event for the vice president in Michigan as the billionaire entertainment mogul enthusiastically endorsed Harris to be the next president.

The Harris campaign footed the bill for organizing the town hall and made a $1 million payment to Winfrey’s production company, Harpo Productions.

When first publicly confronted by TMZ with the news on Monday, Winfrey appeared to give a denial.

‘Not true’ she said, when a cameraman asked her about the payment. ‘I was paid nothing. Ever.’

But Winfrey then clarified her remarks in an Instagram post on The Shade Room show account.

‘Usually I am reluctant to respond to rumors in general, but these days I realize that if you don’t stop a lie, it just gets bigger,’ she wrote.

Winfrey said her production team billed the $1 million fee to the Harris campaign to host the Michigan event on her behalf.

‘[M]y production company Harpo was asked to bring in set design, lights, cameras, microphones, crew, producers, and every other item necessary (including the benches and chairs we sat on) to put on a live production,’ she wrote.

‘Winfrey clarified that she personally did not get ‘one dime’ from the campaign.

‘I did not take any personal fee,’ she said. ‘However the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story.’

The event featured virtual appearances by A-listers including Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez and Bryan Cranston.

Despite the splashy celebrity-focused event in the swing state Harris lost Michigan, and the presidential election, to Donald Trump

The Chicago Tribune blasted the billionaire former talk show host over her decision to allow her company to accept the payment, suggesting Winfrey should have paid her workers’ fees herself.

‘Frankly, $1 million is not all that much to Winfrey and so we very much doubt that she was seeking any kind of personal payday from her chosen candidate,’ the editorial board wrote in a column.

‘But she does own Harpo and serves as its chairwoman and CEO. The production fees should have been a campaign donation.’

Critics have cast blame on Biden and Harris for wasting a whopping more than $1 billion in on a failed presidential bid.

Other celebrities such as Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, Eminem, Cardi B, and Lady Gaga made appearances for Harris throughout the campaign, but there is no evidence of their production companies receiving payments from the campaign.

Cardi B who spoke on behalf of Harris at a rally in Wisconsin slammed accusations that she was paid to speak at a Harris event.

‘I didn’t get paid a dollar and that’s on my three!! I actually came out of pocket for glam and travel because it’s somewhere I wanted to be.. Like please girl you know damn well I’ll argue you down about politics FOR FREE,’ she posted on X in response to a tweet.

Related Posts

Revealed: Cop who led Met’s shambolic VIP abuse inquiry was secretly found guilty of misconduct for security blunder after his work laptop was stolen from his car when he was at the theatre with his wife

Britain’s ‘most controversial policeman’ was secretly found guilty of misconduct after an appalling security blunder which jeopardised police operations against serious organised crime, the Mail can reveal. Steve Rodhouse, Director General (Operations) at the National Crime Agency, ‘recklessly’ left his work laptop, containing classified intelligence files and information about highly sensitive police investigations, in the back seat of his parked car while attending the theatre with his wife. The device, and other classified documents, were stolen by a thief in the summer of 2021 and never recovered.

🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨 Ted Cruz gives a surprising response when asked if he will vote to confirm Matt Gaetz as Attorney General

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz did not commit to backing Matt Gaetz for attorney general when asked Thursday. Cruz demurring on the matter is the latest incident highlighting Congress’ hesitancy to get behind Donald Trump’s nominee. Both Republicans and Democrats have bristled at the idea Gaetz could be the top law enforcement official in the U.S.

AOC stuns Joy Reid with why so many Trump supporters voted for her

The Republican president-elect improved his share of support in New York City including in AOC’s district in 2024, leaving some scratching their heads over how someone could vote for him and a progressive member of ‘The Squad.’ After the election, the Democratic congresswoman put out on social media that she wanted to hear from such voters about their thinking. The responses came flooding in. She shared her takeaways in an interview with the liberal news network. ‘When it comes to people who split their ticket, I think a lot of people cited several different things,’ Ocasio-Cortez told Reid.

Trump picks ‘fake news’ warrior Steven Cheung as White House communications director after his work on campaign

President-elect Donald Trump has decided to bring his barefisted advisor Steven Cheung to the White House as his communications director. Cheung, who made his bones in communications at the Ultimate Fighting Championship, previously served in the White House during Trump’s first term as director of strategic response. He was responsible for delivering tart responses to the press as comms director for the Trump campaign, which modelled the candidate in taking a sledgehammer to political rivals.

JD Vance and wife Usha play with their kids at Mar-a-Lago … with a Secret Service robot dog lurking in the background

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance is preparing for government. But meetings to plan policy rollouts and announce appointments at MAGA HQ sometimes have to wait until after family time and a chance to frolic with the children on the grounds of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. These pictures show Trump’s top lieutenant dressed casually in polo shirt and shorts playing with Ewan, seven, Vivek, four, and Mirabel, two, on the sweeping lawn that leads down to the water.

Democrats are all saying the same thing about Trump’s latest Cabinet picks

Democratic lawmakers are enraged at Donald Trump’s recent picks for Cabinet and West Wing, saying his selections are downright ‘dangerous.’ The president-elect has stirred controversy after nominating a rash of hardline conservatives and MAGA loyalists, some with questionable qualifications, to top positions in the executive branch. Two of the most polarizing nominations have been Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary and ex-Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz for attorney general.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *