Vice President Kamala Harris already has plenty of "star power" supporting her campaign for president. Then again, Joe Biden was backed by George Clooney, who held a fundraiser for him before penning an op-ed begging him to drop out of the race.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "social impact adviser" Greg Propper has revealed the campaign's strategy to harness the power of celebrities, which did so much for Hillary Clinton's campaign.
Kamala Harris' Celebrity Whisperer Reveals Campaign's Strategy for Harnessing Star Power https://t.co/u7xzjOd77u
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 20, 2024
Rebecca Keegan writes:
Propper is helping the campaign tactically deploy celebrities who have raised their hands. For instance, designer Bobby Berk, of Queer Eye fame, who grew up in the middle of Missouri’s Amish farm country, has been involved in Rural Americans for Harris, while Jane Fonda has been speaking to senior voters.
Propper, a self-described “pragmatic idealist,” has built a career helping artists like John Legend, Kerry Washington and Camila Cabello turn their good intentions into concrete social action work. With Legend, his firm helped organize formerly incarcerated people as voters, and with Cabello, they raised a litigation fund to challenge “anti-gay” laws in her home state of Florida. Propper Daley also advises brands like Best Buy and Babylist and helps nonprofits like Everytown for Gun Safety and Hillary Clinton’s childhood health initiative, Too Small to Fail. And the company hosts an annual event, A Day of Unreasonable Conversation, which convenes some 600 Hollywood writers and executives to hear from activists, policy wonks and politically active stars about how to incorporate issues of the moment into storylines. Speakers over the years have included Washington, Jill Biden, Kim Kardashian, Ezra Klein, Stacey Abrams and Halle Berry.
Wow, Jill Biden, Ezra Klein, and Stacey Abrams. Talk about star power.
Star power can't fix a sinking ship, bless their hearts.
— StarStruck Gifts (@StarstruckGifts) August 20, 2024
Remember when Hollywood celebrities shot a video in 2016 urging electors to change their votes to Clinton and save the country? Or when all of those celebrities did a cringe acapella version of Hillary Clinton's campaign theme song, "Fight Song"?
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It's been proven that celebrities are not guaranteed votes. I remember doing stories about Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus running around college campuses and knocking on dorm doors to get out the vote. I also remember the huge controversy back in 2016 when Taylor Swift remained quiet about politics and didn't endorse anyone. Some people think Swift could mobilize all of the "Swifties" and win the Gen Z vote, with just a word or two.
During the 2024 Democratic National Convention, Legend will be headlining a party thrown by Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, and the singer today advocates regularly on behalf of the Democratic Party to talk specifically about criminal justice. Washington started working with Propper Daley in 2018; two years later, she was hosting a night of 2020’s DNC, which took place on Zoom. This year, she will host the DNC on Thursday night, when Harris formally accepts the nomination. “This isn’t just about candidates and election cycles,” Washington says. “It’s about building a future where everyone understands their voice and their power within our democracy.”
John Legend headlining a party thrown by Gov. J.B. Pritzker? And Kerry Washington will be hosting the last night of the DNC?
I don't even know who Kerry Washington is. I don't know who Camila Cabello is either.
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