On May 20, President Donald Trump called for a “major investigation” into the celebrity endorsements received by former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump, through a series of posts on his Truth Social platform, suggested, without evidence, that celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Springsteen, and Beyoncé were illegally compensated for endorsing Harris.
He extended his criticism to others like U2’s Bono, although Bono is not among those confirmed by Harris’ team to have been paid.
Trump stated, “Candidates aren’t allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment,” in his social media posts. He claimed the payments were a costly and desperate attempt to inflate the size of her relatively small audiences.
According to campaign finance records, the Harris campaign made payments to production companies linked to these celebrities for services during the 2024 campaign. Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings reveal that the Harris campaign paid Winfrey’s company, Harpo Productions, $1 million for “event production” on October 15, 2024, a month after Winfrey interviewed Harris at a “Unite for America” event in Detroit, Michigan.
The records also show that Beyoncé’s company, Parkwood Production Media LLC, received $165,000 from the Harris campaign on November 19, 2024. This payment followed Beyoncé’s appearance at a Harris rally in Houston, Texas, on October 25, 2024, where she endorsed the then-Democratic nominee.
Additionally, the FEC filings indicate that the Harris campaign paid Springsteen’s production company, Thrill Hill Productions, Inc., about $75,000 for “travel and event production” on November 19, 2024. The payment came after Springsteen’s performance at a Harris rally in Georgia in October 2024.
Both Winfrey and Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, who manages her daughter’s production company, have publicly denied that the payments were for endorsements rather than production costs. Winfrey addressed the issue in a social media video, asserting that she did not receive any payment personally. Knowles labeled the accusation false, noting that Beyoncé paid for her own travel expenses to attend the campaign event.
Springsteen has not commented on the campaign’s payment to his company. However, he has recently criticized the Trump administration during performances in Europe, calling it “corrupt” and “treasonous” during a concert last week. These remarks seemed to trigger Trump’s response, leading to critical posts about Springsteen on social media. Fresh from a trip to the Middle East, Trump reacted on May 16, 2025, by calling Springsteen “Highly Overrated” and “not a talented guy,” and described him as “just a pushy, obnoxious JERK” who supported “Crooked Joe Biden.” Trump hinted at retribution, writing, “We’ll see how it goes for him when he comes back to the U.S.,” preceding his investigation posts about Springsteen’s endorsement of Harris.
Experts in campaign law indicate that the FEC has no regulations prohibiting federal campaigns from compensating celebrities or influencers for endorsements, contrary to Trump’s claims. According to these experts, such payments would not be considered illegal contributions if properly disclosed in campaign finance reports.
While the FEC oversees campaign finance law, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates disclosure obligations for paid endorsements in commercial settings. The FTC requires that paid product endorsements be clearly disclosed to consumers, but these rules are focused on commercial advertising rather than political endorsements.
When questioned about celebrity payments during the campaign last year, senior Harris campaign adviser Adrienne Elrod told Deadline, “We do not pay. We have never paid any artist and performer. We have never paid a fee to that person.” Elrod explained that FEC rules require campaigns to pay fair market value for ancillary costs associated with events, such as production expenses, and claimed that the campaign “followed religiously” all applicable laws.
Trump’s accusations regarding Beyoncé included claims that she received $11 million for her endorsement, an amount significantly higher than the $165,000 recorded in FEC filings. Beyoncé’s publicist described this claim as “beyond ridiculous” when similar allegations circulated in November 2024.
There is no evidence supporting the claim of an $11 million payment. The Harris campaign’s finance reports show no such expenditure, and certainly not to Beyoncé personally (as noted, the only payment related to Beyoncé was $165,000 to Parkwood for event costs). The rumor of the $10–11 million appears to have originated from misinformation on social media and even on Fox News in November 2024, when Fox anchor Harris Faulkner inaccurately claimed on air that Harris paid Beyoncé $10 million, a figure repeated in viral posts. The Harris campaign quickly refuted those numbers at the time.
The president’s call for an investigation comes amid ongoing tensions with several celebrities who supported Harris during the 2024 campaign. In addition to criticizing Springsteen, Trump insulted Taylor Swift, who also endorsed Harris.
In September 2024, soon after Taylor Swift publicly endorsed Harris, Trump posted on social media, “I hate Taylor Swift.” He criticized Swift as overrated and later bragged that “since I said ‘I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT,’ she’s no longer ‘HOT?’” suggesting his disapproval diminished her popularity. Swift had made a tongue-in-cheek endorsement post labeling herself a “childless cat lady,” reclaiming an insult Trump-allied J.D. Vance had used, which clearly irked Trump further.
The FEC has not publicly responded to Trump’s call for an investigation, and it remains unclear whether any formal complaint has been filed with the commission. The White House has not provided additional details on what form the proposed investigation might take or which agency would conduct it.
During the 2024 campaign, Trump himself received endorsements from several celebrities, including Kid Rock, who performed at the Republican National Convention, and country singer Lee Greenwood. No records have been found of the Trump campaign or other Trump entities paying these performers or their companies for campaign appearances.
Greenwood, whose song “God Bless the USA” is regularly featured at Trump rallies, stated on social media in November that he had not been compensated in “any form” by the Trump campaign or the Trump Organization for his campaign appearances.
In conclusion, all available evidence and direct statements from those close to Winfrey and Beyoncé indicate that neither star took any fee for endorsing Harris, and Springsteen has not suggested otherwise. Trump’s portrayal of these as under-the-table “illegal” payments to buy endorsements is not supported by the facts or by the principals involved.
