By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-11-14 15:00:41 | Updated at 2024-11-22 03:13:07
1 week ago
Oprah has been slammed by her hometown newspaper after her production company was paid $1million to run a Kamala Harris campaign event.
The Chicago Tribune scolded the talk show host over her decision to allow her company, Harpo Productions, to accept the cash.
Winfrey hosted a town hall event with Harris which featured virtual appearances by A-listers such as Julia Roberts, Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lopez and Bryan Cranston.
Reports on campaign spending indicate that of the $15 million spent on 'production fees' in total, $1million went to Harpo.
Winfrey has denied she personally received a paycheck. The Tribune acknowledged that her workers needed to be paid, but said this should have been handled by the billionaire.
'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,' the editorial board wrote in a column.
'But she does own Harpo and serves as its chairwoman and CEO. The production fees should have been a campaign donation.'
Oprah has been slammed by her hometown newspaper after her production company was paid $1 million to run a Kamala Harris campaign event
The newspaper also made a dig at Winfrey for moving Harpo's headquarters from Chicago out to West Hollywood.
Winfrey was forced to address the fee situation amid a backlash.
'I was not paid a dime. My time and energy was my way of supporting the campaign,' she said on Instagram.
'I did not take any personal fee. However the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story.'
However, the Tribune also suggested that the 'starry infomercial' was not the best use of Harris' time.
The paper said she would have been better off taking, 'questions from independent journalists and give her more of a chance to explain herself and lay out her plans for America's future'.
Harris' celebrity charm offensive is widely considered to have backfired with many ordinary voters being turned off by the Vice President's glitzy endorsers.
'Celebrity osmosis did not work; voters wanted to hear more about what Harris would do for them,' The Tribune stated.
The Chicago Tribune said Winfrey should have donated production fees to her company Harpo productions to the Harris campaign
Winfrey hosted a town hall event for the Harris campaign which featured virtual appearances from other celebrities
Harris' campaign has been criticized for splashing the cash of flashy celebrity appearances which allegedly include $5 million given to Megan Thee Stallion for her campaign performance
Joe Biden and Harris' teams have since blamed each other for wasting over $1 billion in donor cash on a disastrous presidential campaign.
Among the fees was allegedly $5 million given to rapper Megan Thee Stallion for her July appearance on the campaign trail.
Harris' team has remained silent over the amounts allegedly given to other celebrities including Lizzo and Eminem who also gave their endorsements.
Democrats have been in disarray over how their sizable war chest was not able to ward off Donald Trump, who spent a fraction of that amount on his campaign.
Biden's poor performance in his June debate with Trump that led to his being forced to drop out at very late in the election cycle by Democratic Party leaders is to blame for Kamala's loss, Harris aides are saying.
But Biden staff say the vice president ran a terrible, three-month campaign and squandered millions of dollars from their top donors.
'How did you spend $1 billion and not win? What the f***?' said a former Biden staffer infuriated by the Harris team excuses.
