Failed Kamala Harris campaign paid MORE THAN DOUBLE initial cost estimates for star-studded town hall event

11/22/2024 / By Ramon Tomey

The failed presidential campaign of outgoing Vice President Kamala Harris has paid more than double initial cost estimates to a production company owned by talk show host Oprah Winfrey for a star-studded town hall event.

According to the New York Post, the Harris campaign shelled out almost $2.5 million to Winfrey’s Harpo Productions for a town hall it held in September. Two people familiar with the matter confirmed this to the New York Times. Earlier reports put the payments to Harpo Productions – which takes its name from Winfrey’s name spelled backward – at around $1 million, but this original amount was “greatly underestimated,” the Post reported.

The town hall event was the Sept. 19 “Unite for America” rally, held in the Farmington Hills suburb of Detroit. About 400 spectators saw Winfrey and Harris in the studio, with many more watching its live stream on YouTube, Facebook and other social media platforms. Several celebrities also joined including actors Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Ben Stiller, singer Jennifer Lopez and comedian Chris Rock.

According to a report by USA Today, the talk show host said Harris’ presidential bid “unleashed a unifying force unlike anything we’ve seen in politics in a very long time.” She continued: “This is the moment for people who are tired of all of the bickering and all of the name-calling. People who are exhausted by the craziness and the made-up stories and the conspiracies.”

The payment to Harpo Productions, whether it be the estimated or actual amount, is but a small fraction of the total $1.5 billion the Harris campaign spent in a losing effort. This amount was spent in 15 weeks and saddled the Democratic Party with a $20 million debt – which President-elect Donald Trump offered to pay.

Per the Post, the failed campaign of Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz included nearly $9,000 worth of ice cream from high-end shops and $15,000 in food delivery services. It also spent $2.6 million in private jet travel during the Democratic nominees’ two-week push in battleground states last month.

Oprah denies being paid, but FEC filings say otherwise

Winfrey earlier denied receiving any personal payments from Harris’ team, both on social media and in real life – the latter during a confrontation with a TMZ reporter.

On Nov. 11, a TMZ reporter approached Winfrey on the street and asked her to comment on the results of the Nov. 5 election, which she refused to address. The reporter then asked about the Harris campaign’s $1 million payment for her endorsement of the now-failed candidate.

“Not true,” she answered. “I was paid nothing. Ever.” (Related: Oprah denies being paid $1 million to campaign for Kamala Harris.)

She later took to Instagram to set the record straight.

“I was not paid a dime. For the live streaming event in September, my production company Harpo was asked to bring in set design, lights, camera, crew, producers and every other item necessary – including the benches and the chairs we sat on – to put on a live production,” Winfrey wrote. “I did not take any personal fee. However, the people who worked on that production needed to be paid – and were. End of story.”

A statement from Harpo Productions given to USA Today also reiterated that Winfrey was “at no point during the campaign paid a personal fee, nor did she receive a fee” from the company. The Harris campaign just paid for the “Unite for America” town hall event’s production costs, it continued. A former advisor to the campaign also said they did not pay anyone for their appearances or support.

But based on filings with the Federal Election Commission, Harpo Productions did receive money from the Harris campaign. According to InfoWars, the payment was given in two tranches of $500,000 each – amounting to $1 million in all. With the Post‘s recent report, the amount Winfrey received via Harpo could be bigger than that.

Head over to KamalaHarris.news for more stories about the outgoing vice president.

Watch Gary Franchi of Next News Network commenting on the Harris campaign’s payment to Oprah.

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