Tom Steyer pays $75k to Foos Gone Wild and The Shade Room to juice trailing campaign
Billionaire Tom Steyer shelled out $75,000 to celebrity gossip powerhouse The Shade Room and meme account Foos Gone Wild as he tries to win over young voters, filings reveal.
Hedge fund titan Steyer has poured more than $190 million into his own bid for California governor — and he’s sparing no expense on online ads to cast himself as a progressive billionaire to social media-addicted Gen Z voters.
That included a $25,000 payment to The Shade Room, the wildly popular gossip account that posts “culture, news & convo” and boasts 28 million Instagram followers.
Tom Steyer has pitched himself as a progressive billionaire and “class traitor.” Getty Images
The account shows two posts about Steyer’s campaign — one highlighting his plan to block the merger of Warner Bros and Paramount, and another promoting his endorsement by Black Women’s Collective PAC, citing his views on “reparations, HCBU investment and economic empowerment,” for black women. “The PAC says Steyer engaged the data directly, speaking specifically to the economic vulnerability of Black women and the systemic gaps affecting Black girls in schools, healthcare, and mental health systems,” the post read.
A Shade Room posted promoted Steyer’s endorsement by Black Women’s Collective PAC. Instagram/@theshaderoom
The $25,000 payment was listed as “online communications” in Steyer’s latest financial filing, which covers spending through May 16, and disclosed at the bottom of each of the two posts. Another popular meme account, Foos Gone Wild, was paid $50,000 for a chummy interview with Steyer in which the billionaire joined anonymous host Mr. E for a chat about holding ICE accountable and grabbing food at a taco truck. The paid spot, which Foos Gone Wild didn’t initially make clear, included an awkward “sock check” in which Steyer showed off white tube socks he hiked up high on his leg. The sock check is a long-running Foos Gone Wild gag to gague whether someone is “down” or “lame.”
The payments between the two accounts totaled $75,000.
Foos Gone Wild quietly added a disclosure to the post after being called by social media creators for not making the payment clear.
Both payments were made through Flight House, a communications agency that works with influencers.
Meme account Foos Gone Wild quietly added a disclosure to their chummy interview with Steyer. Instagram/@foosgonewild
Facebook/Officialtomsteyer/photos
Steyer’s latest disclosures show a slew of other payments for social media creators — a practice that landed him in hot water after two influencers accused him of illegally concealing the payments.
Brandon Calvillo, also known as bjclavillo, who netted $14,250; Hari Tahov, Thomas Marcus, @quentin.quarantino, who was paid $25,000; and @haritahov, who was paid $1,000.
Steyer is trailing frontrunner Xavier Becerra in recent polls. Godofredo A. Vásquez/Pool AP via AP
Steyer is trailing Democratic frontrunner Xavier Becerra by a few points in recent polls with just days to go before the June 2 primary election.
“The Steyer campaign believes creators deserved to be compensated for their time and has fully disclosed all payments,” said Steyer spokesperson Kevin Liao in a statement.
“The same can’t be said for Xavier Becerra, who’s benefiting from bot-driven political manipulation while refusing to condemn it,” Liao added, referring to a claim by cyber intelligence firm Cyabra that a mysterious bot network was boosting Becerra’s candidacy.
