Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign shelled out nearly $2.5 million to Oprah Winfrey’s production company for the celeb-packed town hall it hosted — more than double the initial estimate reported.
It was originally surmised that Winfrey’s company Harpo Productions had been paid around $1 million for the talk show legend’s September town hall with Harris, but a new report shows that the dollar amount was greatly underestimated.
Two people familiar with the matter told the New York Times that Winfrey’s company had actually been paid closer to $2.5 million — still a mere fraction of Harris’ estimated $1.5 billion campaign spending.
The famous TV star has denied receiving any personal payments from the Democrat’s team and a former adviser to the Harris campaign also said they did not pay anyone for their appearances or support.
US Vice President Kamala Harris and TV producer Oprah Winfrey at the ‘Unite for America’ live streaming rally with their arms raised in Farmington Hills, Michigan.
Winfrey said she did not pocket any of the money and used it to pay her team. She also noted that the Harris team was charged for what they required for the town hall.
“I was not paid a dime. For the live-streaming event in September, my production company Harpo was asked to bring in set design, lights, cameras, crew, producers and every other item necessary (including the benches and the chairs we sat on) to put on a live production. I did not take any personal fee,” Winfrey wrote on Instagram.
“However, the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story.”
The Harris campaign broke records for the most donations compiled in the shortest amount of time. Now, it’s also likely one of the most expensive to date, with her campaign blowing through $1.5 billion in 15 weeks.
