Oprah Winfrey was never “paid a personal fee” by Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, according to her production banner Harpo Productions. The statement comes as a denial of a rumor that Winfrey was paid $1 million by the campaign, which had been reported by some outlets.
“The campaign paid for the production costs of ‘Unite for America,’ a live-streaming event that took place Sept. 19 outside Detroit, Mich.,” a spokesperson for Harpo shared in a statement. “Oprah Winfrey was at no point during the campaign paid a personal fee, nor did she receive a fee from Harpo.”
In a report published by the Washington Examiner on Nov. 8, three days after the presidential election, the story looked to illuminate financial decision-making inside the Harris campaign, which raised north of $1 billion within a brief three-month span and vastly outspent Trump’s campaign.
The Examiner reported that the campaign “paid more than $15 million, according to federal filings,” on “event production,” including a $1 million payment to Harpo Productions for the “Unite for America” live-stream. In its statement to Variety, Harpo did not disclose a cash figure for how much the Harris campaign paid for the event’s production costs.
During “United for America,” Winfrey interviewed Harris and asked the candidate about matters such as abortion rights and immigration. The virtual town hall was also billed as a celebrity gathering, featuring words from figures such as Meryl Streep, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Tracee Ellis Ross and Julia Roberts.
In the following days, some outlets aggregated the Examiner report, stating that Winfrey herself had been paid $1 million by the Harris campaign. The mill reached an apex Monday when a video published on TMZ featured Winfrey being questioned, “Is it true that they paid you a million dollars for the endorsement for Kamala?”
“Not true,” Winfrey said in the video. “I did not get paid a penny. Ever.”
