Oprah Winfrey Denies Receiving $1 Million Payment for Kamala Harris’ Town Hall Event

Oprah Winfrey Denies Receiving Payment for Kamala Harris’ Town Hall Event

Oprah Winfrey, the billionaire media mogul, has firmly denied claims that she was paid $1 million for hosting a high-profile town hall event for Vice President Kamala Harris in September.

When approached by a reporter from TMZ in Santa Barbara, Winfrey quickly addressed the allegation. “Not true,” she said, adding, “I was paid nothing. Ever.”

The talk show icon also made it clear that she did not wish to discuss the topic of President-elect Donald Trump's victory, stating, “I'm not talking about the election.”

In a report published on Sunday, The Washington Examiner revealed that Winfrey’s production company, Harpo Productions, had received a payment of $1 million from the Harris campaign on October 15 after she hosted the event. The campaign, which had an overall budget of $1.2 billion, spent significantly on various aspects of its operations, including event production and media appearances.

The Harris campaign, alongside affiliated PACs and the Democratic National Committee, raised a total of over $2.3 billion in political contributions. After spending a combined $3.5 billion on the presidential race, this contest became the most expensive in U.S. history.

The Washington Examiner also detailed how Harris’ campaign spent six figures on the production of her appearance on the popular podcast Call Her Daddy, hosted by Alex Cooper. The set for this podcast was reportedly constructed in a hotel room in Washington, D.C., designed to resemble Cooper’s original set in Los Angeles.

The Harris campaign’s lavish spending extended to other areas as well. From July to Election Day, the campaign and its affiliates disbursed over $654 million, with significant expenditures going towards social media influencers. One vendor, Village Marketing Agency, was paid more than $3.9 million to boost Harris' online presence.

Additionally, over $15 million was allocated for event production, including high-profile appearances by celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Katy Perry in the lead-up to the election.