President Donald Trump has known as for a “main investigation” into a number of celeb endorsements former Vice President Kamala Harris acquired in the course of the 2024 presidential marketing campaign, suggesting with out proof that among the celebrities have been illegally paid for his or her endorsements.
Among the celebrities have publicly denied denying being paid any price in any respect, and consultants say there isn’t any FEC legislation barring marketing campaign funds for endorsements.
Among the many celebrities the president suggests have been illegally paid for his or her endorsements are Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce, every of whom appeared at Harris marketing campaign occasions final 12 months.
“Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, underneath the guise of paying for leisure,” Trump wrote in a pair of social media posts Monday.
The Harris marketing campaign paid manufacturing corporations based by Winfrey, Springsteen and Beyonce for companies supplied throughout and after the 2024 election — however Winfrey and Beyonce’s mom, who runs her manufacturing firm, each stated the funds have been for manufacturing prices related to the occasions they participated in.
Marketing campaign legislation consultants informed ABC Information that the Federal Election Fee has no rules in opposition to federal campaigns paying celebrities or influencers for endorsements, nor would they be thought-about unlawful contributions as Trump recommended — so long as these funds are correctly disclosed. The Federal Commerce Fee oversees disclosure obligations for paid endorsement, the consultants stated.
Marketing campaign finance disclosures present the Harris marketing campaign paid Winfrey’s firm, Harpo Productions, a complete of $1 million for “occasion manufacturing” on Oct. 15, 2024, roughly a month after Winfrey interviewed Harris at a “Unite for America” marketing campaign occasion in Detroit in September.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris joins US tv producer Oprah Winfrey at a ‘Unite for America’ dwell streaming rally in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Sept. 19, 2024.
Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Photographs
“I didn’t take any private price. Nonetheless, the individuals who labored on that manufacturing wanted to be paid and have been. Finish of story,” Winfrey stated in a social media video in response to Trump’s accusation.
The Harris marketing campaign paid Beyonce’s firm, Parkwood Manufacturing Media LLC, $165,000 on Nov. 19, 2024, weeks after Beyonce took the stage at a Harris marketing campaign rally in Houston and publicly endorsed Harris, in accordance with marketing campaign information.
Beyonce’s mom Tina Knowles, in a social media video, stated the accusation that her daughter was paid for her endorsement is a “lie,” including that Beyonce additionally paid for the flights for herself and her staff to and from the occasion.
The Harris marketing campaign paid Springsteen’s manufacturing firm, Thrill Hill Productions, Inc., roughly $75,000 for “journey and occasion manufacturing” on Nov. 19, 2024, roughly a month after he carried out at a Harris marketing campaign rally in Georgia, information present. Springsteen has not publicly addressed the marketing campaign’s cost to his firm.
Final 12 months as unfounded claims concerning the Harris marketing campaign’s funds for celeb endorsements unfold, senior marketing campaign adviser Adrienne Elrod informed Deadline“We don’t pay. We now have by no means paid any artist and performer. We now have by no means paid a price to that individual.”
Noting that FEC guidelines require campaigns to pay honest market worth for the ancillary prices of holding occasions, Elrod informed Deadline the marketing campaign has paid “for any ancillary prices for that efficiency” and that “there are legal guidelines that should be adopted that we have now adopted religiously on this marketing campaign.”
Among the many celebrities who’ve appeared and carried out at Trump’s marketing campaign occasions over time, ABC Information has discovered no information of the Trump marketing campaign or Trump’s different entities paying them or their corporations.
Nation singer Lee Greenwood, whose music “God Bless the USA” is continuously featured at Trump rallies and who has carried out at Trump marketing campaign occasions himself, acknowledged on social media in November that he had not been compensated in “any kind” by the Trump marketing campaign or the Trump Group for his marketing campaign appearances, saying he is “blissful to have stood by” Trump.