The editorial board of the Chicago Tribune has published an editorial criticizing talk show host Oprah Winfrey for receiving money from Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign. The money paid for the costs of the town hall event, however, was not for Oprah's personal use.
Both supporters and opponents of Harris became skeptical after Federal Election Commission filings revealed that her campaign sent Oprah's multimedia production company, Harpo Productions, $1 million on Oct. 15.
"Oprah Winfrey was at no point during the campaign paid a personal fee, nor did she receive a fee from Harpo," said the company in a statement where they confirmed the money went towards paying the costs of the town hall.
"Winfrey did a town hall meeting, or, depending on your point of view, a starry infomercial, with Harris that included virtual appearances by such A-listers as Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Bryan Cranston and Jennifer Lopez," wrote the Chicago Tribune's editorial board.
"Campaign reports indicate the Harris campaign paid Harpo $1 million to handle the event. In total, those campaign reports indicate, the Harris campaign spent more than $15 million on "production fees"," they continued.
The Tribune argued that Oprah herself could have addressed the costs incurred by the Harris campaign during the town hall. The event ended up costing the Harris campaign $15 million, which the editorial board of the Tribune believes should have been covered by Oprah as a donation to the Vice President's campaign.
"It's true that production workers need to be paid and that's fair enough; they're not donors. And, frankly, $1 million is not all that much to Winfrey and so we very much doubt that she was seeking any kind of personal payday from her chosen candidate," the board wrote. "But she does own Harpo and serves as its chairwoman and CEO. The production fees should have been a campaign donation."
The town hall was livestreamed on Harris's campaign YouTube channel, garnering over 1.2 million views in just 12 hours.
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