Did Kamala Harris Pay Beyoncé $11M for Endorsement? What Records Show
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
President Donald Trump has accused former Vice President Kamala Harris of paying Beyoncé $11 million for her endorsement in the 2024 presidential race.
Newsweek has contacted the White House, Harris' office and Beyoncé's spokespersons for comment via email or media contact form.
Why It Matters
Republicans and Democrats have scrutinized the Harris campaign for spending more than $1 billion during her 15-week campaign, which she launched after then-President Joe Biden dropped out of the race in July.
Harris went on to lose November's election to Trump, who recently accused the Democrat in a series of Truth Social posts of paying prominent individuals—such as Beyoncé, Bruce Springsteen and Oprah Winfrey—for their endorsements in the race.
A composite image of Beyoncé, left, at the 67th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 2 and then-Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on July 22, 2024.
A composite image of Beyoncé, left, at the 67th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 2 and then-Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on July 22, 2024.for The Recording Academy;What To Know
On Monday, Trump wrote on Truth Social: "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.
"Remember, the Democrats and Kamala illegally paid her millions of Dollars for doing nothing other than giving Kamala a full throated ENDORSEMENT. 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!!!
While the president has accused Harris of engaging in an "illegal election scam," records from the Federal Election Commission (FEC) do not show an $11 million payment from the Harris campaign to Beyoncé.
Trump did not cite specific news reports in his post, and it is unclear where the $11 million figure came from.
Unverified social media posts have said as far back as November that Harris paid millions of dollars for Beyoncé's appearance at the rally, but no FEC records or news outlets have reported that payment.
However, the campaign made a $165,000 payment to Parkwood Production Media, the production company known as Parkwood Entertainment that Beyoncé founded in 2008. The payment was made on November 19, weeks after Beyoncé endorsed Harris at a rally in Houston.
The description of the payment was "campaign event production," according to FEC records. More details about the payment were not made public.
In November, Yvette Noel-Schure, Beyoncé's publicist, told PolitiFact that the claim Harris paid for the endorsement was "beyond ridiculous." Beyoncé's mother, Tina Knowles, also pushed back on the claim in a post to Instagram, describing it as a "lie" and "false information."
"Beyonce did not receive a penny for speaking at Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris' Rally in Houston," she wrote in November. "In fact she actually paid for her own flights for her and her team, and total Glam."
What People Are Saying
Beyoncé said at a campaign rally for then-Vice President Kamala Harris in October: "I'm not here as a celebrity. I'm not here as a politician. I'm here as a mother—a mother who cares deeply about the world my children and all of our children live in, a world where we have the freedom to control our bodies, a world where we're not divided."
Jessica Tarlov, a co-host of Fox News' The Five, wrote on X: "Donald Trump spent the night ranting about investigating Beyonce so that you would forget that House Republicans just moved a bill forward that would cut Medicaid. Don't let them get away with it."
What Happens Next
The FEC has not publicly responded to Trump's call for an investigation, and it remains unclear whether a formal complaint has been filed.
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