Kamala Harris’ Campaign Proves They Didn’t Pay Cardi B Millions

A senior official from Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign is firing back at rumors claiming that the campaign paid millions to high-profile artists like Cardi B and GloRilla to appear on the trail.

The accusations surfaced amid growing questions about celebrity endorsements and event costs, with some critics alleging that celebrities were paid lavish fees to promote the vice president’s candidacy.

Adrienne Elrod, who served as a senior spokesperson for Harris’ campaign, told Deadline the rumors are completely false.

“We have never paid any artist or performer,” Elrod said, firmly dismissing the allegations. “We have never paid a fee to that person.”

She clarified that while the campaign does cover “any ancillary costs for that performance”—such as travel for band members or crew—no direct payments are made to the celebrities themselves.

“There are laws that have to be followed that we have followed religiously on this campaign,” she explained.

Elrod was referencing Federal Election Commission (FEC) regulations that require campaigns to pay fair market value for event costs. According to FEC rules, any services provided must be reimbursed at a fair rate, but direct payments to celebrities would qualify as in-kind contributions, which are subject to legal limits.

The comments come amid a week of clarifications from other major figures involved in Harris’ campaign events. Oprah Winfrey, who hosted a town hall event for Harris in Michigan, was also forced to address the controversy after news broke that her production company, Harpo Productions, received $1 million for organizing the event. Winfrey, who has long been a supporter of Harris, initially denied she had received any personal payment, stating, “Not true,” when asked by a TMZ cameraman. However, she later took to Instagram to clarify that while she did not pocket any fees, her production company was paid to cover the costs of staging the event.

“My production company Harpo was asked to bring in set design, lights, cameras, microphones, crew, producers, and every other item necessary… Frankly, $1 million is not all that much to me,” Winfrey wrote.

Despite the controversy surrounding the $1 million fee to Winfrey’s company, Elrod and the campaign have maintained that their celebrity endorsements have been in line with campaign finance laws. “We respect all the hustlers involved, and we have followed the rules,” Elrod said, defending the legality of their operations.

Meanwhile, Cardi B, who made waves by speaking on behalf of Harris at a rally in Wisconsin, has also responded to rumors that she was paid to endorse the vice president. In a fiery post on X (formerly Twitter), the rapper vehemently denied the claims. “I didn’t get paid a dollar and that’s on my three!! I actually came out of pocket for glam and travel because it’s somewhere I wanted to be,” she wrote. “Like please girl, you know damn well I’ll argue you down about politics FOR FREE.”

Check out Cardi’s post below.