Theres a reason that the payment was made: Campaign finance law.
The value counts against federal contribution limits as a gift of money does.
We have never paid any artist and performer.
Oprah Winfrey and Kamala Harris at her final campaign rally.Getty Images
We have never paid a fee to that person.
What the campaign is required to do is pay for any ancillary costs for that performance.
That could include everything from travel to paying band members to a backline producer.
There are laws that have to be followed that we have followed religiously on this campaign, she said.
I was not paid a dime, Winfrey wrote.
My time and energy was my way of supporting the campaign.
I did not take any personal fee.
However, the people who worked on that production needed to be paid.
It was also one way that the Harris campaign deployed celebrities in the last three months.
That said, the criticisms have been raised before after Democratic losses.
Gaga, for instance, appeared with Hillary Clinton in the final days of her campaign.
Yet she also appeared for Joe Biden at one his final events in 2020, the year he won.
That can prove embarrassing for a campaign.
But personalities have been paid for appearing at political events held by outside groups.
Correction:An earlier version of this story misstated the publication that initially reported on the Harpo Productions expenditure.
It was the Washington Examiner.
