Oprah the opportunist. That’s what Oprah should call herself, because she certainly took advantage of Kamala Harris. Was it legal?
I wondered why Oprah Winfrey hadn’t donated a single dollar to Kamala Harris’ campaign. But then I figured the earned media of being on her show suffices for a contribution. Look at what it did for the Obamas.
And then the shoe dropped. I learned that Oprah charged Harris $1 million for the interview. How’s that for helping a sista out in her time of real need.
Oprah denied the allegations at first. But as people kept digging, the found out how Oprah planned to “spin” the payoff. The Daily Mail explains,
When first publicly confronted by TMZ with the news on Monday, Winfrey appeared to give a denial.
‘Not true’ she said, when a cameraman asked her about the payment. ‘I was paid nothing. Ever.’
But Winfrey is now scrambling to clarify her remarks in an Instagram post on The Shade Room show account.
‘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,’ she wrote.
Winfrey said her production team billed the $1 million fee to the Harris campaign to host the Michigan event on her behalf.
‘[M]y 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,’ she wrote.
Really, Oprah. That’s the excuse. One million dollars for productions costs?
This wasn’t the next Star Wars movie, but a simple set. At most the production costs would be $20,000 including staff. And then there is this fact: Oprah is in the interview business. So there would be little need for anything extra, including security. Because nobody was shooting at Harris.
Former Fox News host and political pundit Bill O’Reilly commented on the expenditure. He explains how Harris raised $1 billion in a couple of months, only to squander it on Oprah and others.
“So, the Washington Examiner on Friday, Nov. 8, breaks this story about how Oprah Winfrey’s production company is paid $1 million by Kamala Harris’s campaign. $1 million, big money. And you remember Oprah did a bunch of displays, let’s call them, for Miss Harris. We confirmed that number is true, but Oprah denied it.”
Truthfully, it can be argued that Oprah earned that million. After all, she had to try to make an absolute idiot look presidential. And as good as Oprah is, she actually failed.
I keep thinking about this moment between Harris and Oprah — “A veil dropped, and you stepped into your power.” We ALL felt this, and leave to Oprah to articulate what we’ve all been feeling & witnessing. pic.twitter.com/vsdPg0ZPJ0
— Jennifer (Call: 866-OUR-VOTE) Taylor-Skinner (@JTaylorSkinner) September 20, 2024
Oprah was reportedly confronted by TMZ and said that the reporting was not true, stating that she “was paid nothing — ever.”
But as O’Reilly noted, the $1 million in campaign funds were reported to have gone to Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Productions on Oct. 15 in West Hollywood, California.
“And that’s the way it always goes. So, I got three corporations. And a lot of the money that goes into the corporations eventually, someday, will come to me, but I don’t get paid directly. It just comes in.”
“So, Oprah was doing a little two-step here and she finally had to admit it,” he continued.
That move would have made Joe Biden smile. Then mumble under his breath, “I have more LLCs than Oprah Winfrey!”
Let’s be clear. Oprah lied. And then she became sanctimonious when she got caught, and pulled the “Biden” card: “I didn’t get paid directly”. No wonder she votes Democrat.
But look at all the hypocrisies.
If Oprah liked Harris as a candidate, then why did she charge her anything. As I mentioned earlier, Oprah didn’t bill the Obamas during Barack’s run in 2008. In fact, Oprah did a lot more for Obama than Kamala.
On September 25, 2006, Winfrey appeared on Larry King Live and was asked about a fan who started a campaign to get Winfrey to run for president. Larry King noted that Winfrey’s lawyers had apparently warned the man to stop the campaign. Winfrey chided the lawyers and advised the fan to “take all your energy, and put it in Barack Obama”. Winfrey explained that Obama was her favorite senator and she hoped he would run for president.
Next, on October 19, 2006, Winfrey interviewed Obama and his wife Michelle on her show where she restated her endorsement. At the time, Barack Obama was promoting his book The Audacity of Hope. During that broadcast, Winfrey explained that she would be on the air for several more years, so if he ever decided to run, she would hope he would announce it on her show.
Obama’s appearance on Oprah caused his book to reach the No. 1 spot on both Amazon.com’s and the New York Times‘ bestseller list. In the wake of the interview, Time magazine put Obama on their October 23, 2006 cover with the caption “Why Barack Obama could be the next president.”
Obama eventually announced. And in the fall of 2007 Winfrey held a fundraiser for Obama at her California home and raised several million dollars. In October 2008 Winfrey hosted a second fundraiser for Obama, this time in Chicago with the same result.
Did Oprah Winfrey publicly endorse Harris on a huge show? Did Oprah throw even one fundraiser for Harris? Don’t bother to Google either question, because the answers are no and no.
All Oprah did is cash in on Harris like everybody else. They all knew Harris’ campaign was doomed, but why not get a few shekels while the gittin’ is good.
Is this even legal?
I don’t know much about campaign finance, but can you pay for these things and pretend they are just routine? Don’t bother to answer, because Harris lost. But it does make me wonder about Oprah’s audience that day. After all, Harris paid thousands of people to attend rallies; why not a TV show.
Was anything about Harris’ campaign real? Don’t bother to answer that either. Because as I said, she lost.
