Hulk Hogan, Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, and Beyoncé all have one thing in common: In 2024, they used their celebrity status to endorse a presidential candidate.
And while Swift’s childless cat lady-signed Instagram post spurred headlines and Hogan’s shirt-ripping “Trumpamania” proclamation took over social feeds, at least one question remained: Do celebrity endorsements actually do anything to move voters?
In a rapid message test conducted on Oct. 30 to an audience of 4,023 adults nationwide, market research platform Grow Progress tested nine real celebrity presidential endorsements from 2024 and sought to determine whether watching these endorsements moved the needle in favor or against the candidate being endorsed. Grow Progress found that celebrity statements don’t often impact voters’ opinions of the candidates—but when they do, it’s not likely to be positive for the candidate the celebrity is endorsing.
Backwards effect: For the study, Grow Progress examined Beyoncé, John Legend, Eminem, Bruce Springsteen, Maggie Rogers, and Leonardo DiCaprio’s endorsements for Kamala Harris, and Hulk Hogan, Jason Aldean, and Dr. Phil’s endorsements for Donald Trump. Five of the six endorsements for Harris had “no measurable effect” on viewers’ opinions of Harris, Grow Progress found.
Beyoncé’s endorsement, however, did cause a stir—in the wrong direction.
Her appearance at a Harris rally in Houston, Texas,, where she declared herself to be there not as a celebrity or a politician but “as a mother,” made viewers feel less favorably about Harris, according to Grow Progress. The study found this result was “particularly pronounced among younger white people, independents, people in suburban and rural areas, and 2020 Trump voters.”
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Harris’s campaign involved Beyoncé at pivotal moments. The team introduced Harris’s first official campaign video in July, set to Beyoncé’s song “Freedom,” and it became Harris’s walkout song at many of her rallies. Despite the seeming support of the Beyhive, though, Grow Progress’s data suggests the possibility that the star’s official endorsement could have done more harm than good.
It wasn’t just Harris who could have suffered at the hands of celebrity endorsements. Grow Progress’s study found that Jason Aldean and Dr. Phil’s endorsements likely moved respondents’ feelings away from Trump.
Dr. Phil’s appearance at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally in particular caused respondents to be “seven points less likely to have favorable feelings towards Trump,” according to Grow Progress’s data. (Dr. Phil did walk back his endorsement a week after his rally appearance, though this happened after the study was completed.)
In an era where celebrity endorsements generate headlines, it might seem like securing a celeb stamp of approval is key to swaying public opinion. When celebrities choose not to make an endorsement, some fans will even implore them to use their platform to make a difference (see: Chappell Roan’s decision to not endorse Harris, and the resulting backlash). But if the needle doesn’t move, or even moves backwards, when a celebrity makes a political endorsement, these efforts are making much smaller headwinds than media attention might make it seem, Grow Progress’s data suggests.
In other words, the stars may be larger than life, but their political sway seems to be more pocket-sized.
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