Harris Campaign Reportedly Paid Oprah $1 Million To Appear On Stage

Kamala Harris is under fire for reportedly paying Oprah Winfrey $1 million in campaign cash to appear at a Philadelphia Town Hall.

The left-leaning Chicago Tribune reported the Harris campaign paid Oprah Winfrey’s production company two payments of $500,000.

Winfrey denied receiving any money from the campaign for a speakers fee, but the Chicago Tribune noted “that the money went to her Harpo Productions, once famously headquartered in Chicago’s West Loop and now based in West Hollywood.”

The Chicago Tribune reported, “It’s true that production workers need to be paid and that’s fair enough; they’re not donors.”

The outlet added, “And, 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. But she does own Harpo and serves as its chairwoman and CEO. The production fees should have been a campaign donation.”

NEW: Chicago Tribune Editorial Board takes aim at Oprah over her company accepting $1M from the Harris campaign, as revealed by me in @dcexaminer

“It’s true that production workers need to be paid and that’s fair enough; they’re not donors. And, frankly, $1 million is not all… pic.twitter.com/uD7DpMlnb5

— Gabe Kaminsky (@gekaminsky) November 15, 2024

Here’s what Fox News reported:

The Chicago Tribune criticized Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign for reportedly paying out campaign cash to celebrities like Oprah Winfrey.

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“Having someone with a large following simply stand next to a candidate at a podium and say a few words, solo, is one thing; doing a whole livestreamed event with, say, Oprah Winfrey, is another,” the Chicago Tribune wrote in an editorial following reports that the Harris campaign paid Winfrey and other celebrities massive sums for campaign events.

FEC filings show the Harris campaign made two $500,000 payments to Winfrey’s production company, first reported by the Washington Examiner, on Oct. 15, a month after Winfrey appeared with Harris at a town hall event and weeks before Winfrey was on stage with Harris at a Philadelphia rally before Election Day.

“Winfrey this week found herself having to deny that the campaign had paid her a ‘personal fee’ of $1 million following some media scrutiny of the public accounting of campaign expenses, saying instead that the money went to her Harpo Productions, once famously headquartered in Chicago’s West Loop and now based in West Hollywood,” the editorial board wrote.

“It’s true that production workers need to be paid and that’s fair enough; they’re not donors,” the board added. “And, 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. But she does own Harpo and serves as its chairwoman and CEO. The production fees should have been a campaign donation.”

🇺🇸OPRAH'S HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER BLASTS HER FOR $1M KAMALA PAYOUT

Oprah’s company, Harpo Productions, reportedly took $1 million from Kamala's campaign for hosting a celebrity-packed town hall event.

The Chicago Tribune blasted Oprah for not donating the fee, calling it a missed… pic.twitter.com/MnASyy3MbR

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) November 14, 2024

Per Realtor:

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey is facing increasing backlash over reports that she accepted a $1 million appearance fee from presidential hopeful Kamala Harris‘ campaign—rumors that she has vehemently denied.

The TV star addressed the speculation, and the controversy that followed it, on Instagram on Wednesday, shutting down all claims that she took any money from Harris’ team and insisting that she “was not paid a dime.”

“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,” Winfrey wrote. “I was not paid a dime. My time and energy was my way of supporting the campaign.”

Although Winfrey, 70, did not accept a “personal fee” for hosting a town hall event with Vice President Harris in September, she explained that her production company, Harpo Productions, did receive a payment from the campaign to cover the costs of setting up the event.

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“For the live-streaming event in September, my 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 continued.