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. 

Oprah Winfrey holds hands with Kamala Harris after introducing the vice president to speak during a campaign rally outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

‘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.

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris (L) joins US television producer Oprah Winfrey at a ‘Unite for America’ live streaming rally in Farmington Hills, Michigan, on September 19, 2024

Oprah Winfrey speaking at Vice President Kamala Harris final campaign rally in Philadelphia

‘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.