Oprah Winfrey Denies Claims She Took ‘Personal Fee’ From Harris Campaign

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey speaks during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 21, 2024. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Oprah Winfrey said on Tuesday that she didn’t receive a “personal fee” for a campaign event she held with Vice President Kamala Harris in Detroit in mid-September.

The daytime TV star and media mogul was responding to claims that she was personally paid $1 million by the Harris campaign for the Sept. 19 event.

“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,” Winfrey, 70, wrote in a response to an Instagram post that included a video of a TMZ reporter asking Winfrey about the $1 million payment.

In the video, the reporter approached her while she was walking to her vehicle, and she said “[I’m] not talking about the election.” The reporter then asked about the alleged payment, the longtime daytime TV talk show host said, “Not true. I was paid nothing—ever.”

The Epoch Times on Tuesday contacted Harris’s campaign and Winfrey’s company for comment.

An X social media account run by Winfrey’s company, Oprah Daily, highlighted her comments under the Instagram post on Tuesday morning.

“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,” Winfrey said.

“I did not take any personal fee. However, the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story.”

The accusations emerged after last week’s election, in which Harris lost to President-elect Donald Trump. Several news outlets examined Harris’s campaign finances and how the money was spent.

Federal filings show that the campaign made two payments each worth $500,000 to Winfrey’s company, Harpo Productions Inc., on Oct. 15, although the terms of the agreement were not clear.

During the Detroit event, Winfrey came on stage alongside Harris and told the audience, “You know that we can do better and that we deserve better. You know this. I know you know this … we’re better than this.”

Several other celebrities attended the town hall, including Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Julia Roberts, and Meryl Streep.

Winfrey also backed Harris at a campaign rally on Nov. 4 in Philadelphia, just a day before the election. She told the audience that people should head to the polls to vote.

“We don’t get to sit this one out. If we don’t show up tomorrow, it is entirely possible that we will not have the opportunity to ever cast a ballot again,” she said on stage.

A Federal Elections Commission database shows the Harris campaign paid $1 million to Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions on Oct. 15, 2024. Federal Elections Commission/Screenshot by The Epoch Times

“And let me be very clear, if you do not make sure that the people in your life can get to the polls, that is a mistake.”

Months before that event, Winfrey endorsed Harris at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 21.