White House lawyers tell Kamala Harris' influencer niece Meena, 36, to stop using her
'Her behavior needs to change': White House lawyers tell Kamala Harris' influencer niece Meena, 36, to stop using her aunt's name and likeness to build her brand and produce clothing, videos, headphones and children's books
- White House officials are quietly expressing concern about Meena Harris, the niece of Vice President Kamala Harris, and how she is tying her brand to her aunt
- Meena is a 36-year-old social media influencer who sells products related to VP
- 'Some things can't be undone,' a White House official told The Los Angeles Times. 'That being said: Behavior needs to change'
- President Biden has vowed to have one of most ethical White Houses in history
- Meena Harris' brand has used Kamala Harris' name and likeness to produce clothing, videos, designer headphones and children's books
- After election she was told to stop selling items with vice president's likeness
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Meena Harris' brand has used the vice president's name and likeness to produce clothing, videos, designer headphones and children's books.
She has promoted her book Ambitious Girl and her various productions in TV appearances on NBC's Today Show and ABC's The View along with appearances in glossy magazines.
'Some things can't be undone,' a White House official told The Los Angeles Times. 'That being said: Behavior needs to change.'
Even after the 36-year-old was briefed on the rules she must follow, she reportedly flew to the inauguration on a private jet paid for by a campaign donor and shared the trip on Instagram, according to the Times.
Meena Harris, a Harvard-trained lawyer, started a company four years ago that also sells socially conscious T-shirts and sweatshirts, often worn by celebrities and posted on various social media channels.
The online store continues to sell sweatshirts with the viral quote 'I’m speaking,' which were words spoken by Kamala Harris during a debate with then-Vice-President Mike Pence.
Meena Harris has hawked children's books tied to her aunt, sold 'Vice President Aunty' sweatshirts, launched a production company that produced a video with a political group to celebrate her aunt, and collaborated on special-edition Beats by Dre headphones that used a slogan popularized by Kamala Harris: 'The first but not the last.'
In a statement provided to Times through a public relations firm, Meena Harris defended her practices.
'Since the beginning of the campaign, I have insisted on upholding all legal and ethical standards and will continue to strictly adhere to the ethics rules of the Biden/Harris White House,' Meena Harris said.
'With regards to Phenomenal, it was always our plan to remove the likeness of the Vice President from the website before the Inauguration, and refrain from using her likeness in any products or campaigns going forward,' she added.
Meena Harris left her job at Uber to run her company, Phenomenal, and, during the election, also was a surrogate for her aunt. However, the social media influencer has stopped selling clothing using the vice president's name.
After Biden and Harris won the election, Meena was told she could no longer produce clothing or write new books with her aunt's name or likeness.
Her first children's book, Kamala and Maya's Big Idea, was about two sisters taking on a community project. Meena is the daughter of Maya Harris, who was a single mother at 17. Kamala Harris helped raise her niece.
Meena Harris told The Los Angeles Times, in a statement released by a PR firm: 'Since the beginning of the campaign, I have insisted on upholding all legal and ethical standards and will continue to strictly adhere to the ethics rules of the Biden/Harris White House. With regards to Phenomenal, it was always our plan to remove the likeness of the Vice President from the website before the Inauguration, and refrain from using her likeness in any products or campaigns going forward.'
In an interview with The Times of London last month, Meena said her partner gave up his high-flying tech job in San Francisco to be a stay-at-home father to their two daughters, and free her to write feminist children's books and run her business.
She told how Nikolas Ajagu, who she met while working in the tech industry, decided he wanted to be a full-time father to Amara, four, and two-year-old Leela.
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ild-brand.html
Wife: "In my dream, I saw you in a jewelry store and you bought me a diamond ring."
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