'I was paid nothing': Oprah Winfrey denies getting $1 million from Kamala Harris campaign as more details emerge

The Washington Examiner reported last week that Oprah Winfrey received $1 million from the Kamala Harris campaign for endorsing her in the election. Oprah has now reacted to the report and dismissed it. She said the report was not true, she was not paid anything, ever. But records have now emerged showing that two separate payments of $500,000 from the Harris campaign were made to Oprah's production company Harpo Productions INC in October.

So, what is the truth?

A Harpor spokesperson said Kamala Harris' campaign paid for the production costs of 'Unite for America' -- the live-streaming event that took place on September 19. But Oprah was not paid by the campaign a personal fee and she did not receive any fee from the production company. "Oprah Winfrey was at no point during the campaign paid a personal fee, nor did she receive a fee from Harpo," the company said in a statement.

FEC records show two separate payments of $500,000 from the Harris campaign to Oprah’s production company in October. Thanks for playing. https://t.co/oa6QADe8F6 pic.twitter.com/OiNHt4FCvS

— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 12, 2024

But two payments of $500,000 for the production work? Harpo did not disclose the cost of the production work. The town hall featured appearances by Meryl Streep, Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jennifer Lopez and Julia Roberts.

How much celebrity endorsement cost the Harris campaign

Hollywood A-listers extended their support to Kamala Harris and reports said that cost the campaign a bomb. A Spectator World report claimed there were seven swing-state concerts that involved high-priced performers -- Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Jon Bon Jovi, Ricky Martin and more -- "who seemingly ended up costing the Harris campaign more than $20 million on event production alone, and reportedly even more on paying the celebrities to appear."

"Even Oprah Winfrey charged the campaign $1 million to show up. The campaign went so far into debt that the campaign was reportedly forced to scrap Canadian Nineties indie-pop singer Alanis Morissette to save money. The pop concert campaign strategy is said to have been the brainchild of former Obama advisors on the campaign," the report said.

"Now campaign staff and vendors are leaking to media outlets that they are not being paid — and even Donald Trump is now offering to step in and pay them in the kind of brilliant troll move that Trump’s campaign was built upon. While Harris was going broke paying movie stars and pop singers, Trump got more campaign leverage out of three hours on Joe Rogan and thirty minutes at McDonald’s," the report written by Stephen Miller said.