Joe Biden’s reelection campaign has drawn early support from a range of figures in entertainment, media and tech, including six-figure contributions from a list that includes Seth MacFarlane, Netflix’s Reed Hastings and OpenAI’s Sam Altman.
Among donors in entertainment, Jeffrey Katzenberg gave the highest amount, $889,600. He is serving as Biden’s campaign co-chair. His wife, Marilyn Katzenberg, gave the same amount.
The list of donors also include actors such as Lin-Manuel Miranda, who gave $20,000, and other contributions came from Allison Janney, Rosario Dawson and Wendell Pierce.
Biden’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee reported raising $72 million in the latest quarter, the first of the president’s reelection bid, which he announced on April 25. The campaign has $77 million cash on hand.
Among the large donors to the Biden Victory Fund, the joint committee of the Biden campaign, the DNC and state parties, were Seth MacFarlane, who gave $100,000; Altman, who have $200,000; music composer Michael Skloff, who gave $100,000; Hastings, who gave $100,000; and producer Marcy Carsey, who gave $100,000, Broadway producer Edward Snowdon, who gave $125,000; producer Sybil Robson Orr, who gave $100,000 and philanthropist Jacki Cisneros, who gave $100,000. The information was disclosed in quarterly Federal Election Commission records filed on Tuesday.
The list will be updated as more fundraising records are uploaded.
With the introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Altman has been at the center of debate over the impact of AI technology across industries and society in general. He appeared at a White House event in May and testified before Congress. AI also is one of the key issues in the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, while Biden has called on the writers and actors to get fair pay and benefits.
Five-figure contributions came from businessman and producer Eugene William Stetson, producer Ronnie Planalp, Miranda, EDEN Productions’ Richard Plepler, and Centerview Partners’ senior adviser Charles “Skip” Paul and co-founder Blair Effron. Other donors include producer Bruce Cohen, director Dean Devlin, producer Daryl Roth and actress and activist Heather Thomas.
The list of donors also includes a number of fashion designers Michael Kors and Tory Burch, who each gave $50,000, as well as Vera Wang, who gave $10,000. Also contributing was Anna Wintour, who gave $10,000.
Biden has held fundraising events in cities including San Francisco and New York, but an event in Los Angeles has yet to be announced.
More to come.