Ocasio-Cortez’s Campaign Spent Thousands On Celebrity Makeup Artist: Report
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign spent more than $2,000 on makeup and styling services from a celebrity agency, according to campaign finance records. The spending has drawn attention because the New York Democrat has previously spoken about doing her own makeup.
A review of Federal Election Commission filings showed the payments were made to The Only Agency, a styling agency based in New York and Los Angeles. The agency represents makeup artists and stylists who work with high-profile clients.
According to records reviewed by the New York Post, Ocasio-Cortez’s campaign reported multiple payments to the agency. The expenses were listed as services for campaign events.
The campaign reported paying the agency $670 on Nov. 5 for “campaign event makeup services.” Five days later, records show payments of $693.08 and $665 for “campaign event hair and makeup services.”
The Only Agency represents stylists whose clients include rapper Bad Bunny and model Bella Hadid. The agency provides hair, makeup, and creative styling services for entertainment and public appearances.
The agency’s listed starting prices are $600 for hair and $600 for makeup services. The company also maintains offices in London and Nashville.
One of the appearances where Ocasio-Cortez used the agency’s services was a rally in Queens last October. The event was a get-out-the-vote rally for mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
“An honor to glam AOC for the ‘New York is Not for Sale’ rally at Forest Hills Stadium,” makeup artist Jocelyn Biga wrote in an Instagram post. “An unforgettable moment watching her light up the stage with conviction, courage, and heart,” Biga said.
Photos posted alongside the message showed Ocasio-Cortez wearing a smoky eye and red lipstick. The post described the look as featuring carefully styled makeup and hair for the event.
The New York Post said it was unable to determine which other appearances involved the agency’s services. Campaign records did not provide detailed descriptions.
The newspaper also reviewed other campaign spending reports for comparison. Those records suggested many candidates typically spend between $100 and $200 on hair and makeup services.
The Post cited a salon in Queens’ Forest Hills neighborhood that charges $100 for event hair services and $150 for professional makeup. The comparison was included to show typical local prices for similar services.
Republican National Committee officials criticized the spending. They argued it conflicts with Ocasio-Cortez’s frequent rhetoric about wealth and inequality.
“AOC’s favorite slogan is ‘tax the rich,’ but her campaign spending shows she’d rather live like the 1%,” RNC press secretary Kiersten Pels said. “It’s the latest reminder that her class-warfare message is little more than political theater propped up by high-priced makeovers,” Pels said.
Ocasio-Cortez has previously faced scrutiny over high-profile fashion and appearance issues. In 2023, the House Ethics Committee reviewed her attendance at the 2021 Met Gala.
At the event, Ocasio-Cortez wore a dress displaying the phrase “Tax the Rich.” The appearance generated significant media attention at the time.
The House Ethics Committee later determined she had violated House gift rules. The committee said she improperly accepted about $3,700 in rented apparel and other items related to the event.
Ocasio-Cortez has previously spoken about beauty standards for women in public life. She addressed the issue in a video posted to Instagram in 2019.
“Women are expected to put 30 minutes to an hour into their appearance every day to look just as presentable as a man who puts in 10 minutes,” Ocasio-Cortez said. She said women often face a different standard in public roles.
In a separate beauty tutorial published by Vogue several years ago, she discussed the challenges of balancing appearance and credibility. The video included a demonstration of her signature red lipstick style.
“There’s this really false idea that if you care about makeup or if your interests are in beauty and fashion, that that’s somehow frivolous,” Ocasio-Cortez said. She said young women in politics are sometimes judged unfairly over their appearance.
Obama Accuses JD Vance Of Promoting ‘Blood And Soil’ Politics
Former President Barack Obama rarely mentions Vice President JD Vance by name, but that changed this week with one of his sharpest public attacks since Vance took office.
The comments immediately fueled speculation that Democrats are beginning to focus more attention on the vice president as Republicans look ahead to the post-Trump era.
Speaking Thursday during a conversation with author Malcolm Gladwell, Obama accused Vance of promoting what he described as a “blood and soil” vision of America, despite being married to Usha Vance, the daughter of Indian immigrants.
Obama made the remarks while discussing the Reconstruction era and arguing that many of the same debates over citizenship, voting rights and national identity continue today.
“We have a politics now that at least one of our major parties has been captured by politics that is not that subtle about suggesting that ‘We the people’ means a certain kind of people,” Obama said.
“When you have the vice president, current vice president, making a speech that is basically a blood and soil version of ‘We the people,’ that it matters who your parents were and how long they’ve been here despite him being married to a daughter of an immigrant himself.”
The phrase “blood and soil” is historically associated with Nazi Germany and white nationalist ideology.
Obama went on to argue that debates over who belongs in America remain central to the nation’s politics.
“That echoes, then, ideas about who can be a citizen, who belongs, who gets to make decisions,” he said.
Gladwell followed by accusing Vance of hypocrisy, arguing that the vice president was making what he called a nativist argument despite his own family’s immigrant background.
Obama agreed.
“That is progress,” Obama said.
“Listen, hypocrisy is progress. It is, because it means that you feel guilty enough to either lie to yourself or others.”
Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to Vance’s office for comment.
Obama did not identify the specific speech he was criticizing, but Vance’s most recent nationally televised remarks came during Independence Day celebrations marking America’s 250th birthday.
In that speech, Vance encouraged Americans to reject what he called a “two-dimensional view” of the country focused only on its historical failures.
“So what I’d ask you to do, my fellow Americans, on our 250th birthday, is to reject the two-dimensional view of your fellow citizens and reject the two-dimensional view of your country,” Vance said.
“Reject the view of your nation that sees only its sins, but not its grace and its greatness.”
He also emphasized that America’s accomplishments were achieved by “a common people working towards a common future.”
Obama has generally avoided making Vance a regular target since the vice president took office.
One notable exception came during the 2024 presidential campaign when then-Vice President Kamala Harris selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate.
Without naming Vance directly, Obama contrasted Harris’ choice with the Republican ticket.
“When a presidential candidate chooses a running mate, it says a lot about who they are and what kind of president they’ll be,” Obama said at the time, Fox News reported.
Political observers have increasingly discussed Vance as a potential frontrunner for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, though he has not announced any plans to run.
Against that backdrop, Obama’s unusually direct criticism is likely to fuel speculation that some Democrats are beginning to sharpen their message against a politician they view as a likely future standard-bearer for the Republican Party. While no Democratic leaders have publicly described their strategy in those terms, prominent figures often begin drawing contrasts with potential future rivals well before a presidential campaign officially begins.
Whether that proves to be the case remains to be seen, but Obama’s remarks marked one of his most pointed critiques of Vance to date and ensured the vice president once again found himself at the center of the national political conversation.
