Trump declared Beyoncé should face legal proceedings for an alleged financial transaction aimed at securing her endorsement of Vice President Harris.
In a controversial claim made on his social media platform Truth Social, former President Donald Trump accused music superstar Beyoncé of receiving an $11 million payment for endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential bid. However, a thorough investigation reveals no such payment was ever made.
Federal Election Commission records show that the Harris campaign paid Beyoncé’s production company $165,000 for campaign event production costs for her performance at a rally in October 2024. This payment was clarified as covering ancillary costs related to her performance, not for an endorsement fee.
Multiple fact-checking sources, including USA TODAY, found no proof of any $11 million payment. Beyoncé’s publicist called the claim "beyond ridiculous." Tina Knowles, Beyoncé's mother, also debunked the rumour, labelling it as "false information" and a "lie" in a November 2024 Instagram post.
Trump's accusations are not new, as he has repeatedly accused the Harris campaign of illegally paying celebrities for endorsements. However, no such payments are documented beyond the $165,000 for event production. No laws prohibit paying for endorsements as long as payments are properly disclosed, and the Harris campaign reported all expenditures to the Federal Election Commission.
It's worth noting that Beyoncé gifted tickets to Harris for the concert she attended in 2023, long before the presidential campaign. At Harris' October 2021 rally, where Beyoncé officially endorsed her, the singer clarified her role, stating, "I'm not here as a celebrity. I'm not here as a politician. I'm here as a mother."
At the time of Trump's original allegations in May 2022, there was no record of an $11 million payment to Beyoncé from Harris' presidential campaign with the Federal Election Commission.
USA TODAY has reached out to a representative for Beyoncé for comment.
- The world was abuzz with the media scrutiny of former President Donald Trump's claims about music superstar Beyoncé receiving an $11 million payment for endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential bid.
- In the realm of pop-culture and general-news, the controversy surrounding the alleged $11 million payment to Beyoncé by the Harris campaign was debunked by various fact-checking sources, including USA TODAY.
- As the credits roll in the realm of politics, it seems that the general public's perception of celebrities like Beyoncé has been affected, with a heightened interest in how their actions and associations are portrayed in the media and entertainment industry.
