Fact check: Trump calls to prosecute Beyoncé based on a nonexistent $11 million payment
By: Daniel Dale
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
President Donald Trump over the weekend called for the prosecution of music superstar Beyoncé – based on something that did not actually happen.
Trump claimed in a social media post that Beyoncé broke the law by supposedly getting paid $11 million for her endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris during an October 2024 event in Houston . But there is simply no basis for Trump’s claim that Beyoncé received an $11 million payment related to the Harris campaign, let alone for the endorsement in particular.
Federal campaign spending records show a $165,000 payment from the Harris campaign to Beyoncé’s production company, which the campaign listed as a “campaign event production” expense. A Harris campaign spokesperson told Deadline last year that they didn’t pay celebrity endorsers, but were required by law to cover the costs connected to their appearances.
Regardless of the merits of this particular $165,000 expenditure, it’s far from an $11 million one. Nobody has ever produced any evidence for the claim of an eight-figure endorsement payment to Beyoncé since the claim that it was “$10 million” began spreading last year among Trump supporters on social media. Fact-check websites FactCheck.org and PolitiFact looked into the “$10 million” claim during the campaign and did not find any basis for it.
The White House did not immediately respond to a CNN request late Saturday for any evidence of Trump’s $11 million figure. When Trump previously invoked the baseless figure, during an interview in February , he described his source in the vaguest of terms: “Somebody just showed me something. They gave her $11 million.”
A Harris spokesperson referred CNN on Saturday to a November social media post by Beyoncé’s mother Tina Knowles, who called the claim of a $10 million payment a “lie” and noted it was taken down by Instagram as “False Information.”
“When In Fact: Beyonce did not receive a penny for speaking at a Presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harrris’s (sic) Rally in Houston,” Knowles wrote.
A spokesperson for Beyoncé told PolitiFact in November that the claim about a $10 million payment is “beyond ridiculous.”
What Trump wrote Sunday
Trump revived the false claim in a social media post published after midnight early Sunday morning in Scotland, where he is visiting. He wrote that he is looking at “the fact” that Democrats “admit to paying, probably illegally, Eleven Million Dollars to singer Beyoncé for an ENDORSEMENT.”
Democratic officials actually reject the claim of an $11 million payment. The White House did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for any evidence of a Democratic admission of such a payment.
Trump went on to criticize other payments from the Harris campaign to organizations connected to prominent endorsers. He asserted without evidence that these payments were inaccurately described in spending records. And he wrongly asserted that it is “TOTALLY ILLEGAL” to pay for political endorsements, though no federal law forbids endorsement payments .
Trump concluded: “Kamala, and all of those that received Endorsement money, BROKE THE LAW. They should all be prosecuted! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Trump has repeatedly called for the prosecution of political opponents. His Saturday post about Harris and celebrity endorsements was an escalation from a post in May, when he said he would call for a “major investigation” on the subject but did not explicitly mention prosecutions.
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It sounds like Beyonce could have a successful defamation lawsuit against the Liar-in-Chief.
But the SCotUS will say that the man who is above the law can do no wrong.
And that's how democracy ends...
That's his proof...
He should just say he made it up. That is enough to pass SCotUS muster.
many people are saying ...
Some say.
everyone knows ...
All Americans agree.
Nobody's ever seen anything like that!
In any event, thank you for your attention to this matter!
Trump sez eat the peanuts out of my ass.
Why does this man still have any credibility when he speaks? When will it be considered what it is presidential Overreach' to prosecute (persecute) any body he wills? Wasting the persecuted time and in some cases monies?
Do we just sit and spin while he 'wears' himself out (and others too)? Maybe. We can hope that it will 'end' by December 2025. And the new year will be better for 'all' future planned persecution prospects.
Incidentally, the one occasion Beyoncé appeared publicly to support VP Harris, she took 'painful' time to explain that she was there as a mother supporting a future for her child. And, not in her role as an Entertainer of great renown and influence. That is, it was not a brand endorsement to be sure. (See the video. It is out there.)
He doesn't.
Well . . . you might be right!
(Hopefully you won't get persecuted for it!!!)
Beyonce should sue his ass for 50 billion.
I like $100 billion.
Falsely accusing someone of committing a crime is defamation per se in most jurisdictions. The statement is considered so inherently harmful that damages are presumed and specific damages do not need to be proved.
Some of these high profile people Trump attacks need to start fighting fire with fire.
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Trump says he is accusing Beyonce based on "something someone showed me". He seemingly doesnt even remember what it was.
Why is that ok with you?
You have no idea what the law is.
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Actually "someone" didn't show him anything!
(And if they can't be persecuted for that, at least prosecuting them might be worthwhile!)
Well, social media can be like that at times!
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I like $100 billion.
It would be just desserts. Hold "the President" to his own behavior. Goose meet Gander.
Of course it happened... in Trump's "mind".
And the only important facts in America today are those in Trump's "mind".
Trump has an actual mind ???
Probably the same “somebody” who told him they’re eating dogs and cats in Ohio.
People VOTED for this lying ignoramous! WTF is wrong with people???
Even worse, Tacos!, people today —in spite of all that we know— still support and defend the psychopathic demagogue.
Trump has been giving MAGA what it wants. That is, he is 'owning the libs'. . . that is, Trump is systematically unknotting and trashing liberal policies going back to 1930s social security act. . . and 1960s "Great society" - and, he has effectively gained a conservative SCOTUS (with potential to add more conservatives to it and other courts for their lifetimes). . . something conservatives have long wanted to do (leave the democrats without 'any' official federal 'help' for their 'pleads'). And, Trump 'only' listens to MAGA voices and not the 'bleeping' of the Others being casted into outer darkness.
What Epstein has permitted is a chink in the shield of invulnerability of Trump voters. Only time will tell if 'rust' can set in and widen that chink.
Trump is PERFECT for the 'job' MAGA supporters have for him to do. He relishes it! They relish him. He relishes that he is finally his own man in charge doing (99.99) percent of whatever comes into his head and nobody 'able' to do a damn thing about it—as long as the 'armor' withstands pressure!
I conclude that MAGA supporters give less than a __________________ what liberals and secularists think of Trump and themselves. They are in their version of 'paradise' on Earth. Finally, they have the man they want: Their MAN: No more "compassionate" conservative leadership which they hated to their core. MAGA wants cruelty to liberals and secularists. They want YOU and ME to know our place in this society. . . that place: On our knees looking up to them.
This is what they think the 18th century constitutional document gives them the power to be: A Conservative and Christian nation. That is what "M-A-G-A" means: "Taking our country Back!"
MAGA supporters believe they are the 'check' on Donald and only them. He will stay in-charge as long as they want him to be. They see themselves alone as the ones with the power to 'remove' him.
These intelligent fools are serious as a 'heart attack'!
BTW, that is MAGA supporters LEVERAGE over Trump. . .and his over his supporters. Don't give them what they want and they won't be docile for any certain length of time.
It's called extremely low IQs. The far-right wing wallows in their stupidity and ignorance. Fuck all fascists!!!!!!!!