Kamala Harris’ Niece Told She Can No Longer Sell Clothing Bearing Her Aunt’s Name

Vice President Kamala Harris’ niece, Meena Harris, has reportedly stopped selling clothing bearing her aunt’s name, according to Fox News.

The 36-year-old flew to the inauguration on a private plane owned by a Biden inaugural donor and shared about the trip to her Instagram stories, the report said, adding that she also wrote a children’s book about her aunt and mother:

The book was published in June 2020, before Kamala was vice president, and thus breaks no laws. But White House officials told Politico the book couldn’t have been published today because it uses Kamala’s name and likeness. It’s unclear whether Meena is allowed to continue to draw royalties for the book, and she won’t say if she still is.

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The day after the inauguration, transition ethics lawyers had to tell Meena she could not continue to sell a number of items for her clothing brand Phenomenal that beared her aunt’s name– the “Kamala Harris Swimsuit,” “phenomenal Kamala Tank,” and  “Kamala T-shirt.” The items that appeared last fall are no longer listed on her site.

In August, Meena urged the Biden team to sell a shirt in the campaign’s store she designed with influencer Cleo Wade, with the words “The First But Not the Last” printed on it alongside a picture of a young Kamala Harris, according to Politico.

“The Biden campaign acquiesced, but not for long. By Sept. 6, his team had scrubbed Meena’s name off of the campaign shirt, according to Internet Archive screenshots,” the article read.

A White House official told Politico’s Transition Playbook, “For appearance sake, Meena’s name was removed because we didn’t want to make it seem or appear that she would be benefiting or profiting from the campaign.”

The official added that neither Meena nor Wade made money off the shirt.

Weeks after the election, Meena announced she was starting a production company with former Obama White House staff member Brad Jenkins, called Phenomenal Productions, the Fox report continued:

The day before Inauguration Day, Supermajority Education Fund released an ad featuring clips of Kamala that Meena and the company produced. The White House reportedly said it did not know if Meena was paid for her time producing the ad, but if she was it would be a violations of ethics.

However, Meena did not offer a response when asked if she was paid by Supermajority.