A member of Kamala Harris’ campaign is finally speaking out amid accusations from critics that celebrities were paid millions to endorse the vice president during her failed presidential campaign.
Adrienne Elrod, who served as the campaign’s chief spokesperson, told Deadline that they don’t pay celebrities.
‘We have never paid any artist and performer. We have never paid a fee to that person,’ he said.
According to her, the campaign must pay ‘any ancillary costs for that performance’ which could include travel payments for band members.
“There are laws that must be followed and that we have followed religiously in this campaign,” he said.
The laws he was referring to involve Federal Election Commission rules that require campaigns to pay fair market value for event costs.
Companies cannot pay for campaigns directly without receiving a refund and when an individual bears the cost, it is still considered an in-kind contribution that 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.
Vice President Kamala Harris with media mogul Oprah Winfrey at a live-streamed ‘United for America’ rally in Farmington Hills, Michigan, on September 19, 2024
Before the election, Winfrey’s Harpo Productions helped organize a star-studded event for the vice president in Michigan, as the billionaire entertainment mogul enthusiastically endorsed Harris as the next president.
Harris’ campaign footed the bill for organizing the town hall and made a $1 million payment to Winfrey’s production company, Harpo Productions.
When TMZ first publicly confronted her with the news on Monday, Winfrey appeared to deny it.
“It’s not true,” he said when a cameraman asked him about the payment. ‘They didn’t pay me anything. Ever.’
But Winfrey later clarified her comments in an Instagram post on the show’s The Shade Room account.
“I’m normally reluctant to respond to rumors in general, but these days I realize that if you don’t stop a lie, it gets bigger,” she wrote.
Winfrey said her production team billed the $1 million fee to Harris’ campaign to host the Michigan event on her behalf.
“My production company Harpo was asked to bring in scenery, lights, cameras, microphones, equipment, producers and any other items needed (including the benches and chairs we sat on) to put on a live production,” he said. 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 receive ‘a dime’ from the campaign.
“I didn’t charge any personal fees,” he said. ‘However, it was necessary to pay the people who worked on that production. And they were. End of story.’
The event featured virtual appearances from celebrities including Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez and Bryan Cranston.
Despite the splashy celebrity-centric event in the swing state, Harris lost Michigan and the presidential election to Donald Trump.
the chicago Grandstand criticized the billionaire former talk show host for her decision to allow her company to accept 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 live-streamed ‘Unite for America’ rally in Farmington Hills, Michigan, on September 19, 2024.
Oprah Winfrey speaking at Vice President Kamala Harris’ final campaign rally in Philadelphia
“Frankly, a million dollars isn’t much for Winfrey, so we highly doubt she was seeking any kind of personal payment from her chosen candidate,” the editorial board wrote in a column.
But she owns Harpo and is its president and CEO. The production fees should have been a campaign donation.’
Critics have blamed Biden and Harris for wasting a whopping more than $1 billion 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 that their production companies received payments from the campaign.
Cardi B, who spoke on behalf of Harris at a rally in Wisconsin, criticized allegations that she was paid to speak at a Harris event.
‘They didn’t pay me a single dollar and that’s in my three!! “I actually went out of my pocket for glamor and travel because it’s a place I wanted to be… For example, please girl, you know damn well, I’ll talk to you about politics for FREE,” he posted on X in response to a tweet.