Entertainment icon Oprah Winfrey has said it is a lie that she personally benefited from $1 million in payments that U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris' 2024 presidential campaign disbursed to her longtime company, Harpo Productions. This rumor circulated in news articles and on social media in the days following President-elect Donald Trump's November 2024 reelection victory.
For example, on Nov. 10, Fox News published the headline, "Harris paid Oprah $1 million in failed bid to help campaign: report." However, the first sentence in the story clarified on a fact not properly conveyed in the headline: that Winfrey's Harpo Productions received the $1 million. The article cited a Washington Examiner story as its source.
On TikTok, one user whose video received around 750,000 views wrote the caption, "Kamala paid Oprah $1 million during campaign." Other users' posts on X also claimed Winfrey or her production company profited from the payments.
Here's what we know: On Sept. 19, Winfrey — a billionaire — hosted a livestreamed town hall event titled "Unite for America." The event featured a sit-down program with Harris and appearances from a number of celebrities. According to the event's website, the event was held at the venue space The Meridian in Farmington Hills — a suburb of Detroit. USA Today reported that "it was effectively a 90-minute campaign infomercial for Vice President Harris." Winfrey's official YouTube channel also carried the live stream.
Federal Election Commission filings show (archived) that, on Oct. 15, the spender Harris for President disbursed two $500,000 payments to Harpo Productions for "event production" purposes. In other words, the $1 million in payments followed the production from the previous month.
In statements, Winfrey and a spokesperson for Harpo Productions both said the $1 million covered the costs associated with the production. For example, in a statement presented in full later in this story, Winfrey commented from her official Instagram account: "For the live-streaming event in September, my production company Harpo was asked to bring in set design, lights, cameras, microphones, crew, producers, and every other item necessary (including the benches and chairs we sat on) to put on a live production."
By phone, Meridian spokesman Amit Pathak confirmed to Snopes that Harpo Productions provided its own materials for all aspects of the production, just as Winfrey said. He also said the large event took place in the venue space's combined rooms named Addison, Belmont and Carlson.
This image shows a wide view of the set design for the live-streamed production. (Image courtesy of Getty Images)
Statement from Harpo Productions
On Nov. 11, Variety.com reported a statement from a spokesperson for Harpo Productions. Chelsea Hettrick, Harpo Productions' senior vice president of communications, confirmed the statement's veracity in an email to Snopes.
The statement read: "The campaign paid for the production costs of 'Unite for America,' a live-streaming event that took place September 19 outside Detroit, Michigan. Oprah Winfrey was at no point during the campaign paid a personal fee, nor did she receive a fee from Harpo."
Winfrey Refutes Rumor in Video and Instagram Reply
In a video published on TMZ.com on Nov. 11, an unidentified videographer for the Backgrid celebrity news agency asked Winfrey, "Is it true that they paid you $1 million for the endorsement for Kamala?" Winfrey answered, "Not true." She added, "I was paid nothing, ever."
Later that day, the Instagram account @theshaderoom posted the same video. Winfrey replied from her verified account under a user's comment who said, "Y'all thinking Oprah's support can be purchased is beyond me." Winfrey thanked the commenter and called the rumor she personally benefitted from the payments a lie. She also said, "I was not paid a dime," adding, "I did not take any personal fee."
Winfrey's full reply on Instagram read:
Thank you so much for saying this. I want to high five you and give you a hug. Usually I am reluctant to respond to rumors in general, but these days I realize that if you don't stop a lie, it just gets bigger. I was not paid a dime. My time and energy was my way of supporting the campaign. For the live-streaming event in September, my production company Harpo was asked to bring in set design, lights, cameras, microphones, crew, producers, and every other item necessary (including the benches and chairs we sat on) to put on a live production. I did not take any personal fee. However the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story.
We will update this story if we learn more details about this matter.