For a live-streamed event during this year’s presidential contest, Kamala Harris’ team paid Oprah Winfrey’s company more than twice as much as was anticipated.
According to two sources, Harris paid Winfrey Harpo Productions around $2.5 million for the September “United forAmerica” event, despite previous reports that the Democratic contender only had to pay $1 million, according to Knewz.com.
During her brief presidential campaign, which began in late July when Joe Biden withdrew from the race, Harris’ team spent $100 million every week.
After her nearly $1.8 billion campaign left the Democratic Party $20 million in debt, supporters are still receiving money requests.
Concerns over the Democratic campaign have grown as a result of the expensive spending, particularly in light of their humiliating defeat by Republican Donald Trump, who defeated Harris by 312 Electoral College votes.
Influencer collaborations, celebrity appearances at her events, and private jet flights between battleground states accounted for a large portion of Harris’ expenditures.
According to FEC documents, the campaign spent $20 million on concerts and celebrity appearances in the closing days before the election, which is almost equal to its declared debt.
According to a recent New York Times story, Winfrey received approximately $2.5 million for her production company holding a town hall with Harris in September, which was one of the higher costs.
The TV personality interviewed the Democratic contender on issues including abortion rights and immigration, and the event received over 1.2 million views in less than 12 hours.
The campaign “paid for the production costs of ‘Unite for America,’ a live streaming event that took place September 19 outside Detroit, Michigan,” a representative for Harpo Productions said.
They further stated: “Oprah Winfrey was at no point during the campaign paid a personal fee, nor did she receive a fee from Harpo.”
With appearances by celebrities like Julia Roberts, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, and Meryl Streep, the virtual town hall was also marketed as a celebrity event.
The talk show host stated that she paid her staff and covered the event’s expenses rather than keeping any of the money.
In a message on Instagram, Winfrey stated: “I was not paid a dime.”
“My production business, Harpo, was asked to bring in the set design, lights, cameras, crew, producers, and everything else needed to put on a live production for the September livestreaming event. This included the benches and chairs we sat on.
“No personal fee was taken by me. The workers on that production, however, had to be compensated. and were. The narrative is over.
In addition to Winfrey, millions of dollars were spent on other superstars, including Bruce Springsteen, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Bon Jovi, Christina Aguilera, Beyonc, and Megan Thee Stallion.
The influence of celebrity endorsements and performances has been questioned since Harris’ expensive loss, particularly as Trump’s campaign expenditures have decreased.
The Trump campaign and outside organizations spent $1.4 billion, while the Democratic campaign and pro-Democratic organizations spent nearly $1.8 billion.
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