Oprah Winfrey’s production company reportedly received a whopping $2.5 million from the Kamala Harris presidential campaign to put on a livestreamed town hall event that ultimately proved fruitless.
This is more than double the estimated spend on the September campaign event that saw the former talk show host rubbing elbows with the US Vice President alongside prominent celebrities like Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. It illustrates a far clearer picture of the Harris campaign’s crippling $20 million debt following a stunning election loss to President-Elect Donald Trump earlier this month.
Oprah Winfrey at the town hall for the Kamala Harris campaign – YouTube, Kamala Harris
The Harris campaign courted favor with just about every major Hollywood celebrity, garnering endorsements and campaign event appearances from Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, Harrison Ford, the cast of Marvel’s Avengers, and more. However, even with the enthusiastic thumbs up from Hollywood’s supposed “A-List,” the Harris campaign came nowhere close to defeating Trump on his quest for a second term as president.
News of the massive price tag for this event came from The New York Times, citing two unnamed sourced who claimed the Harris campaign paid Harpo Productions $2.5 million. This follows a previous report that estimated the event cost the vice president’s campaign $1 million.
Oprah previously denied receiving funds from Kamala Harris and her people personally, but admitted that her production company was paid.
Oprah Winfrey received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama – Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Harris started the campaign with $1 billion in financing, mostly garnered from donations. Yet despite this massive sum, the failed campaign now finds itself $20 million in the hole. Many question why the campaign spent so much money, who authorized the funds, and why so much went to celebrity endorsements that ultimately proved meaningless.
Harris held lavish concerts in swing states featuring megastars like Lady Gaga, Jon Bon Jovi, and even Taylor Swift. But despite the spectacle, Trump launched a clean sweep of all seven swing states in the 2024 general election.
President Donald Trump being sworn in on January 20, 2017 at the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C. Melania Trump wears a sky-blue cashmere Ralph Lauren ensemble. He holds his left hand on two versions of the Bible, one childhood Bible given to him by his mother, along with Abraham Lincoln’s Bible. Photo Credit: The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Oprah Winfrey was a vocal supporter of Kamala Harris, making several appearances with the vice president. Notable among them was a rally just before Election Day in which she ominously and dramatically warned women that if they didn’t vote for Harris they might never get to vote again.
Do you think the Harris campaign wasted money on celebrity endorsements? Are you surprised that Oprah, through her production company, took $2.5 million from the Kamala Harris campaign? Sound off and let us know!
