Kamala Harris campaign ‘never paid’ millions for celebrity endorsements, ex-adviser insists

Vice President Kamala Harris’ failed presidential campaign did not pay millions of dollars for celebrity endorsements, a former top campaign official said Friday. 

“We do not pay. We have never paid any artist and performer,” Adrienne Elrod, who served as senior adviser and senior spokesperson for the Harris campaign, told Deadline. 

The Harris campaign put on several star-studded concerts in the days leading up to Harris’ Election Day defeat by President-elect Donald Trump. 

A former Harris campaign adviser said that celebrities were never paid to endorse the vice president. REUTERS

Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Christina Aguilera, Ricky Martin, Megan Thee Stallion, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, 2 Chainz and ​​Mumford & Sons were among the artists and musical acts that lent their talents to the Harris campaign in an apparent effort to get low-propensity voters out to the polls. 

Grammy Award-winning artists Beyonce, Cardi B and Jennifer Lopez also appeared on the stump for Harris, but didn’t perform — upsetting some Harris supporters.

Elrod explained that under Federal Election Commission rules, the Harris campaign was required to pay fair market value “for any ancillary costs” of performances — such as wages for band members and producers. 

“There are laws that have to be followed that we have followed religiously on this campaign,” she said.

A series of election eve concerts alone reportedly set the campaign back $20 million.  

Earlier this week, television talk show icon Oprah Winfrey, who also campaigned for Harris and hosted a virtual town hall for the vice president, swatted down speculation that she was paid a personal fee for the “Unite for America” event in September. 

The Harris campaign paid Oprah Winfrey’s production company for ancillary costs associated with putting on a September town hall event. AP
Harris received endorsements from several celebrities, including Grammy Award-winning rapper Cardi B. AP

The Washington Examiner reported last week that the Harris campaign paid $1 million to Winfrey’s Harpo Productions in October. 

Winfrey and her production company both insist that the money went to paying for set design, lights, cameras, microphones, crew, producers, and everything else required to put on the live town hall event. 

“We have never paid a fee to that person,” Elrod said.