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Oprah Winfrey (L) holds up US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris' hand as she arrive onstage during a campaign rally on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 4, 2024.
Oprah Winfrey hosted a “Unite for America” rally for Harris in September.
As leaders of the Democratic Party continue to assess their major shortcomings in the recent elections, Oprah Winfrey has addressed a false claim that’s been floating around. The rumor was that she’d received $1 million from Kamala Harris’ campaign for a rally she hosted for the Democratic presidential nominee.
In a statement to USA Today, Winfrey’s Harpo Productions company dismissed that the media mogul was “paid a personal fee, nor did she receive a fee from Harpo.” The statement also said that Harris’ campaign paid for the production costs of the event, which was titled “United for America.”
Winfrey herself also addressed the claim while responding to an Instagram comment left on a Shade Room post that shared a video of her speaking about it with paparazzi.
“Usually I am reluctant to respond to rumors in general, but these days I realize that if you don’t stop a lie, it just gets bigger,” Winfrey wrote. “I was not paid a dime. My time and energy was my way of supporting the campaign.”
She continued on, saying that Harpo brought in set design, lights, cameras, microphones, crew and producers, before reiterating that she “did not take any personal fee.”
“However, the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story,” she said.
The rumor seems to stem from reports — including one from the Washington Examiner, a conservative news outlet — that Harris’ campaign spent quite a bit of money.
According to the Examiner, $1 million went to Winfrey’s Harpo, which was a part of more than $15 million spent by the Harris campaign, per federal filings.
During the rally, Winfrey endorsed Harris for president. Prior to Harris, she also endorsed Joe Biden in 2020, Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Barack Obama in 2008.
