Oprah Winfrey Denies Reports That She Was Paid $1 Million For Kamala Harris Endorsement

Fake news? We're coming up on a week since the 2024 election, which saw former President Donald Trump sweep the swing states and improve his numbers from 2020 pretty much everywhere en route to a resounding victory over Vice President Kamala Harris. Ahead of the election, all of the polls predicted a close race, especially given the fact that the Democrat nominee was forced to run a shortened campaign after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race back in July. There's been a lot of discussion about what went wrong for Harris after many in the media breathlessly reported that she ran a "flawless" campaign. (No, seriously, that's what MSNBC thinks). I mean not appearing on Joe Rogan's podcast definitely looks like a flaw in hindsight, especially now that we know how poorly she performed with men, who are Rogan's primary listeners. Or you could also question her decision to focus so much on abortion given the fact that Trump actually GAINED with women compared to his run in 2020. Then there was the devastating ad from Trump that proclaimed "Kamala is for they/them, President Trump is for you." Many pointed to that ad as the most impactful of the campaign as it highlighted the Democrat party's focus on transgender issues at a time when many are just struggling with to get by in this economy. But hey, she ran a flawless campaign so who am I to question it. One of the things that many have begun to question in the autopsy of her failing campaign is just how she spent her giant war chest. The Harris campaign managed to raise over $1 BILLION in just three months - yet still ended up $20 million in debt and shut out of the swing states. Doesn't seem like a great investment, right? There was a report last week that the campaign spent six figures on a set for Harris' appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, which was shot in a hotel room made to look like the podcast studio. And the campaign also spent a staggering $20 million on concerts from artists like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry on the night before the election. But another payment from FEC campaign finance reports that's raising eyebrows is $1 million to Oprah Winfrey's production studio, Harpo Productions. Oprah endorsed Harris and hosted a town-hall rally for the candidate back in September, along with appearing at Kamala's final rally on the day before the election. Naturally, this led many to question whether Oprah was paid for her endorsement. But TMZ caught up with the talk show host, who flat out denied that the $1 million was for her to endorse Harris: "Not true. I was paid nothing. Ever." Of course we know based on the campaign finance reports that while Oprah herself may not have been paid, her studios were paid a cool million - likely for production of the September town hall. Seems like money that might have been better spent reaching male voters instead of speaking to the same audience that was already voting for her. But again, what do I know. https://twitter.com/TMZ/status/1856106988918477241