Critics accuse DL Hughley of being paid to speak in support of Vice President Kamala Harris on the Democratic National Convention on August 22.

The four-day event saw a number of elected officials and celebrities publicly declare their support for the presidential candidate. The comedian has been outspoken in his support of the previous California attorney general since July, when President Joe Biden endorsed her to succeed Donald Trump within the 2024 presidential race.

However, Hughley has not at all times supported the primary female vice chairman within the country’s history.

Like many others, he believed widespread misinformation about Harris’s criminal policies, which she implemented while serving as California’s top prosecutor. He revealed that he, too, was incorrect. “As president, he will give each and every one of us a fair chance at life. But I have to admit that I didn’t always believe that,” Hughley began in his speech.

“I mean, if you had told me, as a 15-year-old, that I would be on stage supporting a prosecutor and a teacher, there is no way I would have believed you. But because of that, I made assumptions about Kamala’s record and I have repeated them to many people,” he added.

One reason he distrusts Harris’s stance on crime is that he believes she sent 1,500 black men to prison for marijuana-related offenses during her tenure as attorney general, an oft-cited statistic that has been widely shared since 2020, when it went viral on Facebook.

Associated Press Press Agency found that the post is a distortion of a claim made by an opponent throughout the 2019 Democratic presidential debate, when Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard said, “Senator Harris says she’s proud of her record as a prosecutor and that she’ll be the president’s prosecutor. But I’m deeply troubled by that record. She put over 1,500 people in jail for marijuana violations, and then laughed about it when asked if she’d ever smoked marijuana.”

Facebook’s claim was framed as a warning to black voters that Harris didn’t have the community’s best interests in mind as an elected official. Before a crowd of 1000’s and hundreds of thousands who watched the DNC live, Hughley admitted he was incorrect.

“One day, Kamala invited me over, put her hand on my shoulder and asked me to do some research. I had never done anything like that before. Something that I know a lot of people had never done before,” the stand-up told The Original Kings of Comedy.

Hughley added, “Imagine attacking someone’s character without a single Google search. So I did what I should have done all along. I found out that she did exactly what she said she would do for us. I think your apology should be as loud as the accusations, and I’m here to apologize to the whole damn world. I was wrong, and I’m so glad I was wrong, because Kamala, you give me hope for the future.”

Online, a conservative troll claimed his switch was a paid Democratic tactic to get black votes. “How much are they paying you @RealDLHughley, I bet it’s half of what @SteveHarveyFM got,” one said he said. Another person he tweeted“He also got over $10,000.”

The $10,000 and Steve Harvey reference come days after the actor addressed claims he was paid to promote Harris on his radio show. While Harvey has never publicly endorsed Trump, the entertainer took a digital beating for meeting with the disgraced former president in 2017, shortly before he took office.

This past June, he again drew criticism for his political leanings when he led a discussion with Harris on the 100 Black Men of America conference, telling the audience, “Before you start calling my radio show and writing me private messages and saying why you didn’t ask any hard questions — that’s not what this is about.” He also acknowledged that the conversation was an “alley-oop” meant to highlight what the Biden-Harris administration was doing for black people.

When self-proclaimed “Prince of Pan-Africanism” Dr. Umar Johnson accused Harvey of accepting bribes to promote a Democratic agenda, the “Family Feud” host said the claims were unfaithful. Umar claimed Democrats offered him $10,000 to get involved within the campaign, but he turned it down.

Steve Harvey responds to Dr. Umar, who claims he and Rickey Smiley are receiving money to support Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign.

(🎥 Steve Harvey’s Morning Show) photo: twitter.com/n6mW4pBMHq

— The Art of Dialogue (@ArtOfDialogue_) August 20, 2024

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“I’m doing this completely free of charge because I want this county to be in her hands and not in Donald Trump’s hands,” Harvey said, referring to Umar’s claims.

He continued, “That’s why I do it. Now me and Rickey Smiley are on the same page. Now we’re the Ques (Omega Psi Phi fraternity), and so is DL Hughley. And the Ques kind of run the airwaves for black radio. … We understand what it’s all about, too. So, no, I didn’t get a dollar for anybody to do what I do.”

Hughley also addressed accusations that his endorsement was bought in an August 23 Instagram post. He wrote, “I have not been ‘USED’ for anything, nor have I ever ‘allowed’ myself to be. I do and do not do what I want.”