U.S. President Donald Trump has called for Beyoncé to be prosecuted over her endorsement of Kamala Harris, despite there being no evidence for his claims.
In a post on Truth Social over the weekend, Trump accused Democrats of paying Beyoncé $11 million to support Harris during her 2024 presidential campaign.
Trump has called for Beyoncé and other artists to be prosecuted for endorsing Kamala Harris
Highlights
- Donald Trump claimed Democrats paid Beyoncé $11 million for endorsing Kamala Harris.
- Campaign records show only a $165,000 payment to Beyoncé's production company for event costs, not a direct endorsement fee.
- Fact-checkers and Beyoncé’s team have repeatedly denied the $11 million payment claim.
- Kamala Harris’s 2024 campaign spending exceeded $1.5 billion, focused on rallies, advertising, and production.
Image credits: Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images
“I’m looking at the large amount of money owed by the Democrats after the presidential election and the fact that they admit to paying, probably illegally, $11million to singer Beyoncé for an ENDORSEMENT (she never sang, not one note, and left the stage to a booing and angry audience!),” he wrote.
Trump also highlighted payments linked to other public figures, including Oprah Winfrey, Al Sharpton and Bruce Springsteen, claiming they were paid “for doing absolutely NOTHING.”
“These ridiculous fees were incorrectly stated in the books and records,” he continued. “YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO PAY FOR AN ENDORSEMENT. IT IS TOTALLY ILLEGAL TO DO SO,” he said, before calling for all of them to be prosecuted.
Trump’s comments come as Harris’ campaign has been facing questions about its massive spending during the 2024 race.
Records show the campaign spent heavily on rallies, advertising, events with celebrities, and other high-cost efforts, with a total budget exceeding $1.5 billion.
Harris was spending roughly $100 million per week on the campaign.
However, there is no proof that any of the costs went directly to the celebrities themselves. A November 2024 New York Times investigation showed that the publicly shared financial records from the campaign went toward production costs and staff.
CNN reported that federal campaign spending records show only one payment connected to Beyoncé—$165,000 to her production company—listed as a “campaign event production” cost.
Image credits: Scott Olson/Getty Images
This amount covered event expenses for a rally where the musician appeared with Harris in Houston in October 2024.
Campaign officials have repeatedly denied that Beyoncé was paid for endorsing Harris.
Adrienne Elrod, a senior adviser to Harris, told Deadline last year that they didn’t pay celebrity endorsers, but they were legally required to cover the costs connected to their appearances.
Fact-checking organizations, including FactCheck.org and PolitiFact, have investigated the claim that Beyoncé was paid $10 million to $11 million and found no evidence to support it.
They concluded that the figure originated from social media rumors and not from any official record.
A spokesperson for Beyoncé also dismissed the idea that she received millions for the appearance, calling the claim “beyond ridiculous.”
There is no evidence to support Trump’s claim that Beyoncé was paid $11 million
Image credits: Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty Images
Beyoncé’s mother, Tina Knowles, also publicly refuted the rumor in a post on Instagram last year.
“It’s called False Information,” she wrote. “The lie is that Beyonce was paid 10 million dollars to speak at a rally in Houston for Vice President Kamala Harris. In fact she actually paid for her own flights for her and her team, and total Glam.”
Oprah Winfrey also denied similar claims that she was paid $1 million for supporting Harris, explaining that her production company was only reimbursed for event production costs.
“I did not take any personal fee,” she said on social media. “However, the people who worked on that production needed to be paid. And were. End of story.”
Image credits: Kamala Harris/YouTube
Despite these rumors being addressed, Trump has repeatedly mentioned the $11 million figure.
In February, during a radio interview with Mark Levin, Trump said, “Somebody just showed me something. They gave her $11 million.”
Neither Trump nor the White House has provided any evidence for his claim.
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
At the Houston rally where Beyoncé appeared, she spoke to a large crowd about why she supported Harris. “I’m not here as a celebrity, I’m not here as a politician, I’m here as a mother,” she said.
“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,” she continued. “Imagine our daughters growing up seeing what’s possible with no ceilings, no limitations. We must vote, and we need you.”
Kamala Harris’ campaign costs exceeded $1.5 billion
In August 2024, Beyoncé threatened Trump’s campaign team with legal action for their unauthorized use of her song ‘Freedom’ in a social media video. Just days before, she had approved the song as the official anthem for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.
While Trump has continued to call for investigations and prosecutions over supposed endorsement payments, it is not illegal for campaigns to pay for production costs related to events featuring celebrity guests. What would be illegal is paying directly for an endorsement, but there is no evidence that happened in this case.