Kamala Harris“Campaign aides join Oprah Winfrey putting to rest rumors that began this week after a report falsely stated that the vice president’s team had paid at least one celebrity for an endorsement and insinuated that other stars who had championed his abbreviated bid for office White House had been paid for their support.

Rumors began to circulate about alleged payments, including to Oprah and allegedly for her support of Harris after a report in the Washington Times on Monday, he stressed Federal Election Commission recordings which show $1 million paid to Winfrey’s Harpo Productions. This, like the Times reported, was only a portion of the roughly $20 million paid to media production companies for events; the outlet described the role played by several of these companies as “uncertain.”

After Winfrey categorically denied While there was some truth to that accusation on Wednesday, Harris campaign officials launched a counter-offensive, going to the media to set the record straight and ensure the public understands something about the nature of the laws on campaign financing, which are the reason for the payments to Harpo Entertainment and other production companies.

“We don’t pay. We have never paid any artists or performers,” Adrienne Elrod, senior advisor and lead spokesperson for the Harris campaign, said Deadlineadding that they are required to pay “all incidental costs associated with this performance,” which could include moving paying group members to a backline producer. “There are laws that must be respected and that we have followed religiously during this campaign,” she said.

An email sent by The Hollywood Reporter The Harris campaign seeking comment Friday was not immediately returned.

Under U.S. law, companies such as Harpo and several others cited by the Timesare not allowed to donate directly to a candidate’s campaign, and if that were to happen, the campaign would have to refund any amount donated. This goes for simple cash donations, but also includes production costs and other expenses related to hosting an event.

To support the Harris campaign, Winfrey hosted a celebrity-heavy town hall in mid-October and, as Times As the article points out, the $1 million check in question was sent to Harpo Productions on October 15, which was disclosed via FEC records. The event, as the multi-billionaire wrote in the comments section of a post on The Shade Room’s Instagram page after being stopped and questioned by a TMZ journalist earlier in the week, was produced by his company. Everything from the lighting, to the production and support staff, to the furniture they sat on came from Harpo’s coffers – so payment was sent at the time of the event to the town hall.

“I didn’t receive a cent” Winfrey wrote after clarifying that she felt above the rumors but needed to put an end to them before they grew. “My time and energy was my way of supporting the campaign. For the September live stream event, my production company Harpo was asked to bring in the set design, lights, cameras, crew, producers and anything else needed (including benches and benches). chairs we were sitting on) to put on a live production. . I didn’t take any personal expenses. However, the people who worked on this production had to be paid. And where. End of story.