Harris campaign paid Lakers star’s SpringHill Entertainment for ‘campaign event production’
Kamala Harris’s campaign paid $50,000 to the production company of billionaire NBA superstar LeBron James, who endorsed the failed Democratic candidate in a deceptively edited video attacking Donald Trump days before the presidential election.
The Harris campaign paid James’s SpringHill Entertainment on Jan. 28 for “campaign event production,” according to campaign disclosures released this week. James, a forward for the Los Angeles Lakers, did not appear at any campaign events for Harris. But he did post a 75-second video on his social media accounts on Oct. 31 that portrayed Donald Trump as racist.
“When I think about my kids and my family and how they will grow up, the choice is clear to me. VOTE KAMALA HARRIS!!!” James wrote on X and Instagram, where he has 53 million and 159 million followers, respectively.
Critics of the ad, entitled “Hate Takes US Back,” claimed it was deceptively edited to place Trump soundbites over racially charged footage. In one segment, an image of Trump appears on screen as a white supremacist is heard chanting, “We love Hitler, we love Trump.” The ad shows a news headline stating that former KKK leader David Duke supported Trump, though Trump disavowed Duke in early 2016.
The payment to James’s company is the latest example of an exorbitant spending spree that saw the campaign burn through more than $1.5 billion only to suffer the party’s worst presidential defeat in decades. Some Democratic megadonors have criticized the campaign for spending so heavily on celebrities, consultants, and ineffective advertisements.
“A lot of people got rich on the back of donors trying to stop Trump. And I think this disqualifies her forever—forever. If you can’t run a campaign, you can’t run America,” prominent Democratic donor John Morgan said of Harris, who has yet to decide whether she will run for president in 2028. She is also reportedly considering a run for California governor, and has discussed forming a public policy think tank with her lawyer husband Doug Emhoff.
The campaign paid tens of millions of dollars to celebrities who appeared at campaign rallies on her behalf. Harris’s team paid $165,000 to the production company of Beyoncé Knowles, who spoke for four minutes in support of Harris at a rally in Houston in October. The campaign paid the production company of Oprah Winfrey at least $1 million for a sit-down interview in Chicago, and nearly $100,000 to the shell company of Barack and Michelle Obama, who appeared at several campaign events for Harris.
Team Harris gave $58,000 to rapper Cardi B, who spoke at a rally for Harris in Milwaukee on Nov. 1. Cardi B shot down allegations at the time that she was paid for the stump speech.
“I didn’t get paid a dollar,” said the rapper. “I actually came out of pocket for glam and travel because it’s somewhere I wanted to be.”
The Harris campaign donated more than $5 million to liberal activist groups, including $500,000 to the nonprofit of MSNBC host Al Sharpton. The controversial preacher interviewed Harris weeks after the donation without disclosing it to MSNBC viewers, the Washington Free Beacon reported.
Campaign disclosures do not describe what James’s company did in exchange for the $50,000 payment. And it is unclear why the payment was made so long after the election. Campaign disclosures show Harris’s campaign also paid actress Jennifer Garner $35,000 for “campaign event production and travel” on Jan. 16. Garner, the ex-wife of Ben Affleck, appeared at several campaign events alongside Harris.
James, who launched SpringHill Entertainment in 2007, worked with another media production company, HollandWest Productions, to make the pre-election ad, according to social media posts. “We are thrilled to have collaborated on producing this ad for LeBron James as he officially endorses Kamala Harris,” the company wrote in a social media post. The firm’s owner did not respond to a request for comment. SpringHill Entertainment also did not respond to a request for comment.
News organizations hyped the James endorsement as a landmark event in the campaign. “Huge news,” said MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace. USA Today columnist Mike Freeman said James’s endorsement “will go down as one of the most remarkable political acts any athlete has ever done.”
