Kamala Harris paid Beyoncé $11m for ‘illegal endorsement', Trump claims
Donald Trump has accused Kamala Harris of paying Beyoncé $11 million for an 'illegal' endorsement during the 2024 election.
The US president called for a 'major investigation' into Mrs Harris's A-list endorsers claiming they were illegally compensated to publicly support her presidential bid.
Singling out Beyoncé, Mr Trump said reports she was paid to appear on stage with Mrs Harris at a campaign rally in Houston was an 'illegal election scam at the highest level'.
Beyoncé did not perform at the Houston event, unlike in 2016, when she sang at a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Cleveland.
'According to news reports, Beyoncé was paid $11,000,000 to walk onto a stage, quickly ENDORSE KAMALA, and walk off to loud booing for never having performed, NOT EVEN ONE SONG!' Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social.
'This is an illegal election scam at the highest level! It is an illegal campaign contribution! Bruce Springsteen, Oprah, Bono and, perhaps, many others, have a lot of explaining to do!!!'
'I am going to call for a major investigation into this matter. Candidates aren't allowed to pay for ENDORSEMENTS, which is what Kamala did, under the guise of paying for entertainment,' the president added.
Mrs Harris, the vice-president at the time, enjoyed a stream of celebrity backers leading up to the November election.
Weeks before the vote, Mrs Harris got an assist from music legend Stevie Wonder in Jonesboro, Georgia, who rallied churchgoers with a rendition of Bob Marley's 'Redemption Song.'
Days later in Atlanta, she and Barack Obama, the former president, held a rally that featured a performance by Bruce Springsteen and speeches from famed filmmaker Spike Lee and actor Samuel L Jackson.
The campaign followed that a day later with a rally in Texas featuring a performance by Willie Nelson and a speech from Beyoncé.
Elsewhere, Oprah Winfrey also hosted a star-studded town hall for Mrs Harris near Detroit.
The Harris campaign paid Beyoncé's production company $165,000 and gave $1 million to Winfrey's company Harpo Productions, according to campaign finance records.
Winfrey claimed she did not receive 'any personal fee'.
'However, the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story,' she wrote on Instagram at the time.
Meanwhile, Beyoncé's mother said the artist 'did not receive a penny' for her endorsements and slammed speculation that she had been paid millions to appear on stage.
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