title: IF THESE CELEBRITIES ARE “With Her” Then Why Is Hillary Paying Them Big Bucks After Performing At Fundraisers?
text: Hillary gives pay-to-play a whole new meaning Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Tony Bennett all have one thing in common every one of them got paid after performing to raise money for Hillary. So are they  with her  or are they only  with her  if she pays up?  Of course, this begs the question,  besides Chelsea, is anybody really  with Hillary ? Pop star Lady Gaga cashed a $21,000 check from Hillary Clinton s presidential campaign, campaign finance records show.Gaga is a public backer of Clinton, and performed at a fundraiser for the former secretary of state at Manhattan s luxurious Plaza Hotel in June 2015, an event that carried a price tag of $2,700 per head.During the fundraiser, Clinton snapped a picture alongside Gaga and singer Tony Bennett, who also performed at the event. The picture shows Gaga holding up a shirt that read,  Yaaas Hillary!  Hillary posted the photo to her Instagram account.Two months after the event, on Aug. 25, 2015, Hillary for American made a $21,088 payment to Mermaid Touring Inc. for  event production  in Los Angeles, California. The company is registered in the state of New York and lists Stefani Germanotta, the birth name of Lady Gaga, as its chief executive officer.Gaga urged her New York-based fans on Twitter to get out and vote for Clinton in the Democratic primaries. Hillary for America s New York primary day blog highlighted the tweet on its website.Tony Bennett, also an open Clinton backer, called the Democratic candidate the  most qualified person to ever run for president  shortly before the New York primaries. He has received two separate payments from the Clinton campaign, Federal Election Commission records show.The first check to Bennett was dated for July 17, 2015 in the amount of $2,052 for  event production  purposes and came one month after the fundraiser.On Jan. 7, 2016 nearly seven months after the fundraiser another check was cut to Bennett in the amount of $4,421, also for  event production. This is not the first time that a celebrity who publicly backs Clinton has received payments from her campaign.The Washington Free Beacon previously reported that pop star Katy Perry s company, Kitty Purry, Inc., was given $70,000 from Hillary for America.In total, $97,561 in payments was dished out between Gaga, Bennett, and Perry from the campaign.Clinton s campaign did not return a request for comment on why the payment was issued to Gaga by press time.  WFB