I'm reading "Did Kamala Harris Pay Celebrities to Endorse Her? Oprah Winfrey Speaks Out" (Newsweek)(examining various claims, e.g. Beyoncé got $10 million just to walk up to the podium and say a few pro-Kamala words):
Nonprofit fact-checking website FactCheck.org said that a Harris campaign official told them the claim "is not true." PolitiFact also said that it had found "no evidence" for the claim and that Beyoncé's publicist told them it was "beyond ridiculous."
Newsweek reached out to the Harris campaign for comment via email outside of regular working hours. Newsweek also reached out to representatives for other celebrities who endorsed Harris and have been accused of being paid for it, including Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, Lizzo, and Eminem, via email.
Some social media users pointed out that two payments to Winfrey's production company, Harpo Productions Inc, can be found under the Harris campaign's disbursements on the Federal Election Committee website. The payments, of $500,000 each, were made on October 15 and are marked as "event production."
"Marked as 'event production'"? I hope they didn't mismark anything! What was the "production" that cost a million dollars? Causing Oprah to appear onstage? The social media users are trying to help, but it looks as though they are calling attention to what might be a false statement to the FEC.
Wouldn't that be much worse than mislabeling the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels in private business records?
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103 comments:
If it walks like a duck.... Look, she paid Beyonce, Oprah, etc. They didn't come for free to endorse Harris.
It's "d"ifferent when they do it, Ann!!
If Harpo actually used its resources and staff to produce the appearance and wasn't compensated, it could be construed as an illegal in-kind contribution to the candidate by a business if the amount wasn't reimbursed by the campaign.
That said, I have no idea whether the $500k x 2 is anything close to fair market value.
Definitely need a full DOJ investigation of the accounting for that event.
That is the key question, isn't it? I'm eagerly waiting for the Stormy Truthers to waddle in here and explain the big difference to us.
How much did Obama pay to be called The One by Oprah? Anything? What a diss to kamela!
"Wouldn't that be much worse than mislabeling the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels in private business records?" Inquiring minds want to know. Could be fun.
My reaction is the same as Wince's: It could be a damned if you do (pay for the celeb's appearance), damned if you don't.
Also, assuming Harpo actually produced the event -- e.g., supplied the studio, cameras, lights, host, makeup, sound, etc. -- then a $1 million fee doesn't strike me as outrageous. It's not like there's going to be any residual value to the show from which to derive profits down the road. And the Harris campaign paid $100k just for the set of that "Daddy" podcast.
That's what I've been wondering about some payments that could be called appearance fees. If Beyonce or Lizzo routinely get 7 figures for just showing up somewhere, appearing for free at a Harris rally could be construed as an in-kind donation of their usual and customary charge and mess with their ability to make cash donations. The campaign might have paid them with the unwritten expectation they were making donations in similar amounts to PACs or other campaigns.
Celebrities getting paid top 1% money, telling the Americans Kamala was going to fight for the middle class. Awesome.
It's not about worse, it's about not being a crime at all.
I happen to have heard about 67,000 shiny new IRS employees that may soon become available for a comprehensive forensic audit, including cavity searches.
She paid endorsers and she paid mobs? And she was able to attract $1B plus from donors with that show-scam? Where did all the donations go, exactly? Hmmm…. Anyone seen Tish? Need her to go after this legit potential fraud..!
And the Harris campaign paid $100k just for the set of that "Daddy" podcast Yeah. The modified a hotel room for $100k to make is look like the "Daddy" podcast, rather than just go to her studio. She wouldn't go to Rogan, which they now regret. Not only was Kamala and her people stupid, they were lazy and entitled.
No one is above the law.
Except democrats.
I'm not sure a celebrity appearance or endorsement alone can be ruled a campaign contribution under the applicable statutes and the First Amendment.
It's the delivery of tangible resources outside the campaign finance limits that could get you into trouble.
Years and years of lawfare - er, "investigation" - could cost Harpo millions.
I dont really undestand this. Oprah's production got paid $1 million. Newsweek, (whats the name of the reporter?), did nothing more than ask people if it were true, and then waved their hands and said "without evidence".
Did they talk to the reporter at the Washingon examiner or beacon or whatever who reported it? Did they look into what the 1 million was for? Evidently not.
This is just another MSM "fact check" scam. Oh, we looked at the election fraud by calling up our friends and asking it was true. They said no, so "There is no evidence" LOL!
The great thing about the phrase "We found no evidence" is you can do absolutely nothing and say that. Hey, I found no evidence X happened. Of course, I just called one person and asked them if it was true. And googled it.
We haven't heard anyting about the celebrities who popped up in the White Dudes for Harris videos, Jeff Bridges, Mark Hamill, et al., I wonder if they were paid.
It seems very stuck in the past kind of thinking, that Oprah matters but Joe Rogan doesn't. I guess they found out different.
Thousands of "influencers" were paid to produce posts supportive of her campaign. Almost half a billion dollars was laundered through ActBlue, which covered up the illegal donations by claiming they were small donor donations.
Trump had better hire a Mafia leader to go after these people at the DOJ.
Teh Juan.
I read the original report, or it said the event cost 15 million, and Harpo productions got 1 million of that. I don't think oprah got 1 million to get the audience of 400 people and build the set etc. Someone online pointed out that a TV studio set used by harris cost $100,000 and could be built for $6000.
This is my shocked face.
It was promoted as a national "town hall" even though many of the questions for Harris came from celebrities. News division events like this are not considered "promotional" but as informational. However, news divisions, and even SNL we recently saw, are required to follow the equal time rule. There's a wide range of problems if all of these "endorsements" were actually "infomercials" financed by the Harris campaign but not declared during the event as being paid for by the candidate.
In response to Chris B above, campaigns are allowed to reimburse for expenses (travel, etc.) but only according to strict FEC guidelines. My hunch is they just cheated (like Obama's overseas donations in 2012) figuring when they won they would sweep it all under the oval office rug.
It would be except that I’m sure no “reasonable” prosecutor would take it to trial.
Proof: Kamala Harris, Oprah host and livestream town hall-styled rally
Hmmm. "Town Hall-style Rally" is kind of weasel wordy. WBNS 10TV puts it more plainly: Kamala Harris speaks at townhall hosted by Oprah
So was it a Town Hall or a Rally?
Rogan now revealed a whole list of demands he would not accede to, which really puts the lie to the diminution, "He wouldn't travel."
Trump offered to help pay off Kamala's $20,000,000 campaign debt. If paying celebrities millions for endorsements turns out to be illegal, maybe he could have the IRS or FEC force the celebrities to give the money back to Kamala. That would be one way to help her pay off her debt!
That's a whole lot of bus rentals.
One way or another it just points out the Dems propensity for flushing money down the toilet. Rogan would have been a much bigger audience. For free!
"Also, assuming Harpo actually produced the event -- e.g., supplied the studio, cameras, lights, host, makeup, sound, etc. -- then a $1 million fee doesn't strike me as outrageous. It's not like there's going to be any residual value to the show from which to derive profits down the road. And the Harris campaign paid $100k just for the set of that "Daddy" podcast."
So you're saying everybody was price-gouging the rolling-in-dough Harris campaign. Everybody took home a lavish tip on top of their minimal work. It wasn't Harris's fault that it was completely wasteful sloshing around the money it cadged from Us the People.
Gabe Kaminsky reported the FEC filing (Harris campaign listed Harpo as an expense) in the DC Examiner. Then TMZ asked Oprah about it because no one else would. Oprah "denied it" according to TMZ, but Kaminsky said on X that TMZ asked about it being a quid-pro-quo which the DCE article did not say.
Result: facts still unclear.
If only we had a national media that could investigate stories like this.
If a big pop star shows up to give what's supposed to sound like a sincere endorsement, but it's just acting, and what they are receiving is a fee for a performance, not too different from that time Elton John played piano and sang at Rush Limbaugh's 4th wedding, then that's just another campaign expense. It's designed to fool people, but so is every other thing the campaign spends its money on, and what difference does it make if that crap is expensive or if the campaign had to pay a lot extra because the celebrity didn't even like Kamala Harris?
The most extensive and inclusive money laundering operation in American history.
WTF "cost $15 million"? The "studio audience" were little TV sets with people on zoom asking questions.
Yes, but everything above "commercial travel" level expenses is supposed to be declared. Like in infomercials where they say "Paid celerity endorsement." Harris was clearly paying for endorsements trying to make it look like the "earned media" Trump was getting. I think Dr. Weevil above conflates Trump's facetious "offer to help Kamala out with earned media" with an actual offer to reimburse Harris's campaign debt.
Christopher B.,
Do Beyoncé or Lizzo really "routinely get 7 figures for just showing up", or so they rather get that much for showing up and headlining a performance?
There's yuuuge difference between the latter and showing up to speak a few words of endorsement.
They're only wishing she would have gone on Rogan because they have nothing to compare that to. If she had gone on Rogan, they'd be blaming that appearance for her loss. Because she is an idiot who cannot have an intelligent conversation with a person not being paid to support her.
Democrats are WILDLY out of touch. Morning Joe didn't know how much a pound of butter costs and when they found out they couldn't believe it.
The important thing to remember is she raised $1 billion but spent $1.2 billion. That's who was going to "fix" our economy.
You would have to go down the list of the Harris Campaigns other disbursements and find out exactly what it is they provide. There are several LLCs on that list that were paid 10 million dollars and above. I suspect some of them are probably connected to the people who appeared at Harris events, including Beyonce and Lizzo.
Oprah's production company is the easy one to identify- I would have looked at the list and known instantly with whom it was associated because it is a widely known fact.
National political campaigns are likely infested with grifters.
To your first sentence, yes. The fact that the fee was exactly $1 million is a tip-off.
To your second sentence, I'm not saying KH wasn't responsible for, nor shouldn't be criticized for, her campaign's wanton spending of contributors' money; only that the $1 million Harpo received likely WASN'T to purchase Oprah's endorsement.
It wasn’t beyond ridiculous, it was Beyonce ridiculous.
How much was the Trump McDonald stunt? For perspective.
Maybe Oprah gave her endorsement for free but wasn't willing to cover all the costs of production, including all the salaries and wages of the employees. If she had done so, wouldn't that count as a donation to the Harris campaign, subject to the rules and regulations of the FEC?
FWIW, the question of Oprah's donations to the Maui fire victims came up the other day. She did donate millions to the fire relief effort, but when one is worth billions "millions," even tens of millions, are likely to be seen as just a drop in the bucket. Ah, the woes of billionaires ...
Perhaps a better analogy would be hiring celebrities for product endorsements, such as Jamie Lee Curtis for Activia or William Devane for gold.
The problem here is that the media treated as sincere endorsements appearances that may have been motivated entirely by lucre. Similarly, the media seemed largely uninterested in the fact that attendees at KH's campaign rallies were apparently being paid to be there. This is just astroturfing writ large, but it wouldn't work if the media didn't decide to look the other way.
The question is: Oprah's company got 1 million dollars. So what did they do? maybe someone can actually do some, y'know reporting. And calling up Oprah and asking her if she got $1 million isn't enough. Its there in the report. What motivation is there for Oprah to confim it? None. What evidence is there that Oprah knows her financial details? None.
Oprah, without evidence, denies she got 1 million.
In case anyone's forgetten, Trump has faced crimnial charges over this sort of Campaign finance silliness. Remember, Stormy Daniels got hush money and the Leftwing Prosecutor argued it was campaign expense and Trump broke the law by not reporting it.
So, no one is above the law Kamala. Lets start a criminal investigation. What did Oprah know, and when did she know it?
"Wouldn't that be much worse than mislabeling the hush money paid to Stormy Daniels in private business records?"
Yes.
in this 'laundering' does money get clean or dirtied?
Oprah is willing to ask provided questions, not ask follow ups, and edit the responses after the fact. Joe Rogan just wants to talk to you for three hours and stream it as is.
Yeah, I realize the appearance fee thing is a stretch. I really can't see any other reason for the campaign to think it was obligated to pay for something it could have gotten for free (supposedly). The other explanation would seem to be just cutting their friends in on some of the campaign cash (Bidenomics is pinching everybody!).
It's not their money so they don't care, thus they were WAY over budget. But The Trump capaign treated their campaign finance like a business. They came in under budget.
Rush's birthday is a private matter - not part of a campaign.
anyone can hire a pop star for a private event - if the money is there.
Re: Wince:
I don't know whether $1,000,000 is market value for an appearance by Oprah, but if they handled the entire event, including Oprah's green room, her personal security and staff for the day, the event set-up, and all that, then I suppose. And her staff and other requirements are doubtless more expensive than run of the mill pop stars. But the in-kind question must also apply to all those fundraisers held at megadonors' stately homes. Is that construed as an in-kind donation of the value of the space and work performed by their domestic servants? I suspect not, since it would easily cross the maximum allowable donation ($3,300, I believe).
If Oprah said she wasn't paid and the Harris campaign said she was paid a million dollars, then someone's lying.
The Democrats have to do a lot of bad stuff so they can help the people, they really want to help the people.
Where is scumbag Alvin Bragg when you need him. Surely there are at least 35 felonies in Kamala Harris's campaign shenanigans. Go for it Alvin!
"price-gouging" -- LOL
That said, I have no idea whether the $500k x 2 is anything close to fair market value
…at the office we used to see these price lists of A-list performers that would come to your birthday party or wedding or your thing. It was usually a fixed fee per plus expenses, including transportation, ie the plane. Oprah doesn’t sing or really do anything but on expenses alone $1 million seems kind of light…
It's confusing. One thing is clear: Oprah didn't risk--up until just now--any harm to her finances or reputation by endorsing Harris......This might prove to be Harris's most significant contribution to American democracy. I don't think we'll ever again see so many celebrity endorsements in a Presidential election.....All the rich, good looking people in movies in music came out for her. They charged her less than they did Weinstein and P. Diddy for similar professional services. They were solidly behind her but for reasons no one will ever understand they failed to tip the election her way.
And at this point, does it really matter?
Ann asks the correct questions everyone is desperately trying not to answer. I’ve always assumed campaign finance laws were the type only politicians and lawyers live- murky, contradicting and easy to hang around the neck of people they want to go away…
Can soneone explain how this is worse than or just as illegal as Trump's hush money? Some of us would genuinely like to know
I've been looking forward to all the "tell-all" books that will be coming from Harris campaign staffers.
Now I'm thinking I REALLY want to see an auditor's report regarding their campaign finances - and how many family members got rich off their piece of the action.
The Netflix series “Ozark” is largely premised on the difficulties involved in laundering money.
Political campaigns are like “get out of jail free” cards.
Trump’s alleged crime was that he didn’t try to launder campaign funds, like any self-respecting political grifter would do.
Paying personalities to augment a politician with no personality is definitely a campaign expense. I think, as someone said earlier, it is more about the perception from the media that they aren't being paid to endorse.
What would Groucho Say?
Lock her up.
Is this new math or am I just stupid. BidenHarris campaign has 1 billion dollar warchest that only Kamala could unlock. Kamala raises "One BILLION dollars" on her own. Kamala spends 1 billion or maybe 1.347 billion but everyone agrees she is 20 million in the hole.
This is gonna be one of those times we get patted on the head and told "Don't worry, you are not credentialed or smart enough to understand." isn't it.
You've got a nose for this JR. Her sister Maya was a well-paid "advisor" to her campaign.
I wrote something here that's... not here.
Did Harpo Productions recognize the $1 million as income? I’m guessing the IRS would like to know. At least the Trump IRS.
Don’t worry. It’ll show up late tonight or tomorrow.
"If Beyonce or Lizzo routinely get 7 figures for just showing up somewhere, appearing for free at a Harris rally could be construed as an in-kind donation of their usual and customary charge and mess with their ability to make cash donations."
I don't believe that's the case with individuals because they have first amendment free speech rights. There is a big difference between writing a check to a campaign and publicly saying that you support a candidate. (I also suspect that's why some of them didn't perform their songs. That might be considered an in-kind campaign contribution, if it is not paid for by the campaign, because at that point they're performing work.)
"How much was the Trump McDonald stunt? For perspective."
Probably zip. Probably an in-kind donation that likely gained the store owner $50K in additional trade.
Years ago, I tried to arrange a trade at work. An ex employee was willing to trade a lot of multicable for the old, unused welder in the scene shop. The corporate accountants wouldn't approve the trade because they said that it might create a tax liability.
If a lot of the goods and services were massively overpaid for, there might be questions about the money that was spent that was above the fair market value of what was received.
Don't forget what happened to Trump when he overvalued his property in New York to get that loan.....(And nice, round numbers are very suspicious to the accountant types.)
Obviously, Trump making fries is less productive than an experience McD's employee making fries. Trump working the drive-thru is less productive than an experienced Mickey D's dude doing a shift in the window. Throw in the video crew, the S.S. protection squad, the Trump minions (they're all from the cyclops batch) and the general disruption, the store was running at a ridiculously low efficiency rate compared to a normal day. So the loss of productivity was the "in-kind" donated to the Trump campaign, but what's the dollar value? Given the boost in sales the store has seen since the stunt the dollar value of the in-kind donation is a net zero at least. Maybe the store will be required to include it in its tax fillings as a gift!
I'd like to see someone dig into the 284 million supposedly paid for technology and software. That's an enormous sum of money for a 8-10 month campaign.
How much of Joe's war chest went to Jill to get her to go along with all of this?
Whataboutism seems totally appropriate in this instance. We can all be hypocritical at times, but not in everything we do, at all times. That's a Democrat party special power. Enabled by the legacy media, which is dying a slow death. Rightfully so.
It deosnt' majically become the Trump IRS. Al lthe same people who work there - work there.
Re: Mike (MJB Wolf):
I think Maya Harris is probably a legitimate expense, though -- VP Harris isn't the first campaign she's worked on, and she has a background in activist organisations like the Ford Foundation and the ACLU. Unlike most family campaign hires, she has the background to contribute meaningfully.
That's my response to your comment. But the reason I commented is actually to note that Maya was obviously the smart sister, and Kamala a bit of a dim party girl in comparison. It's interesting, though perhaps unsurprising, that Maya's the one who ended up in the background, while her sister ended up the face of the Democratic party.
Could have cost a million. I bought 8 pieces of fried chicken, a pint of mashed potatoes and a small order of popcorn shrimp at Popeye's yesterday - $36 and 50 cents.
I'm guessing, but I think that the total cost could have been well over a million and the underpay was the FEC violation. Or not.
The positive part of this is that I learned that Harpo is Oprah spelled backwards.
Not only were the entertainers paid for their Harris rally appearances, the AUDIENCES also mostly paid participants, bused to locations, paid for their attendance. Cell-phone data-collection analysis has been published; many Harris rally attendees' cell-phones were present at multiple Harris rallies, hundreds of miles apart, all arriving via chartered buses.
Those video-captured attendees who stormed out of Harris Campaign's promised "Beyonce Concert" rally, were furious Beyonce gave nary a song sung after her lackluster 3-minute endorsement speech. Those gullible folks thought Harris had a free Beyonce concert on offer, but got a 91 year- old Willie Nelson weakly crooning into mike.
Taking a better look at the event, yeah, I could see a million dollar expense or more if all costs were accounted for as they needed to be to keep Oprah legally clear. Pretty big operation with a lot of people working behind the scene.
As Oprah mutters as she dodges the British reporter: "nope I wasn't paid", we can parse it as "no Oprah the person didn't get Harris check; Harpo received the $1m check". Always check the semantics. "I didn't have sex with that woman", said Bill Clinton, with caveat that in his Hope Arkansas hometown he doesn't recall blow-jobs received by married men by single woman as being considered "sex", at least not at local tavern where his people hung-out. Clinton may be product of immaculate conception himself, his mother supposedly widow of a serial bigamist who died before Bill was born, and before his mother discovered all her sister-wives; at least that's the story in his official biography.
Good point, Dave. I ran for office twice. There’s a lot of mischief in vagueness in those reporting forms. I was quite surprised by them. Nonprofit paperwork is harder. Personal taxes even moreso. I’d like to see the entire breakdown for several of her events.
For example, if someone got paid to put a fern on that stage (other than Kamala), is that profit for Harpo, payment for Oprah, both, or reportable as a donation? You would know better than I.
Sounds like a kickback then. Why couldn't *some other* production company have put on the event? Why did Oprah's "free" endorsement have to come packaged with a million dollars of valuable services from Harpo.
Also, corporations are people once again.
She denied taking a *personal fee*. She didn't deny that her production company took $1 million. Can you imagine donating $50 to Kamala's campaign and having it go to a billionaire?
loudogblog, I fully agree with you in terms of a celebrity holding their own event or discussing a candidate in an open forum but I have to think an appearance at a campaign event is potentially something different.
That said, as I noted below, I'm mostly stretching to think why a campaign would pay for something they should be able to get for free. There's also the point that in what way is this illegal if it is properly accounted for. It might be unseemly but if the campaign wants to spend the money, it's their dime.
This is uglier than the celebrity crap.
And the campaign "donated" 500k to an Al Sharpton nonprofit shortly before she sits for a tongue bath interview with Sharpton.
that would be pmurT IRS going after Harpo
They obviously oulsnt find Beyoncé’s price, because they kept promising she’d sing at their events and she kept not singing.
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