Appearances alongside the likes of mega-celebrities like Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen did not work out well for Kamala Harris, as endorsements from the superrich were not necessarily helpful in an election where polls had said from the start that voters were primarily worried about their own economic fortunes.
Now, as part of the ongoing Democratic postmortem, eyebrows are being raised over how much money the Harris campaign appeared to shuffle to Hollywood as part of its eye-popping $1 billion campaign spend, some of which was raised from ordinary Democrats without a lot to spare. Part of the problem with celebrities is that they tend to come with entourages or, to put that in a more friendly way, “production needs.” Having someone with a large following simply stand next to a candidate at a podium and say a few words, solo, is one thing; doing a whole livestreamed event with, say, Oprah Winfrey, is another.
Winfrey this week found herself having to deny that the campaign had paid her a “personal fee” of $1 million following some media scrutiny of the public accounting of campaign expenses, saying instead that the money went to her Harpo Productions, once famously headquartered in Chicago’s West Loop and now based in West Hollywood. Winfrey did a town hall meeting, or, depending on your point of view, a starry infomercial, with Harris that included virtual appearances by such A-listers as Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Lopez. Campaign reports indicate the Harris campaign paid Harpo $1 million to handle the event. In total, those campaign reports indicate, the Harris campaign spent more than $15 million on “production fees.”
It’s true that production workers need to be paid and that’s fair enough; they’re not donors. And, frankly, $1 million is not all that much to Winfrey and so we very much doubt that she was seeking any kind of personal payday from her chosen candidate. But she does own Harpo and serves as its chairwoman and CEO. The production fees should have been a campaign donation.
Better yet, rather than do such events, the Harris campaign would have been better advised to let its candidate answer questions from independent journalists and give her more of a chance to explain herself and lay out her plans for America’s future. Celebrity osmosis did not work; voters wanted to hear more about what Harris would do for them.
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