Trump calls for investigation into Kamala Harris endorsements celebrities

President Donald Trump has called for a “major investigation” into several celebrity endorsements that the former Vice President Kamala Harris received during the 2024 presidential campaign, suggesting without evidence that some of the celebrities were illegally paid for their endorsements.

Some of the celebrities have publicly denied denying being paid any fee at all, and experts say there’s no FEC law barring campaign payments for endorsements.

Among the celebrities the president suggests were illegally paid for their endorsements are Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce, each of whom appeared at kamala Harris campaign events last year.

“Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment,” Trump wrote in a pair of social media posts Monday.

The Harris campaign paid production companies founded by Winfrey, Springsteen and Beyonce for services provided during and after the 2024 election — but Winfrey and Beyonce’s mother, who runs her production company, both said the payments were for production costs associated with the events they participated in.

Campaign finance disclosures show the Harris campaign paid Winfrey’s company, Harpo Productions, a total of $1 million for “event production” on Oct. 15, 2024, roughly a month after Winfrey interviewed Harris at a “Unite for America” campaign event in Detroit in September.

“I did not take any personal fee. However, the people who worked on that production needed to be paid and were. End of story,” Winfrey said in a social media video in response to Trump’s accusation.

The Harris campaign paid Beyonce’s company, Parkwood Production Media LLC, $165,000 on Nov. 19, 2024, weeks after Beyonce took the stage at a Harris campaign rally in Houston and publicly endorsed Harris, according to campaign records.

Beyonce’s mother Tina Knowles, in a social media video, said the accusation that her daughter was paid for her endorsement is a “lie,” adding that Beyonce also paid for the flights for herself and her team to and from the event.

The Harris campaign paid Springsteen’s production company, Thrill Hill Productions, Inc., roughly $75,000 for “travel and event production” on Nov. 19, 2024, roughly a month after he performed at a Harris campaign rally in Georgia, records show. Springsteen has not publicly addressed the campaign’s payment to his company.