Biden wins support of major Hollywood fundraiser
James Costos, a former HBO executive and major Democratic donor who served as ambassador to Spain during the Obama administration, is throwing in with Joe Biden as the former vice president seeks to turn around his campaign.
Costos will plan a fundraiser and other events for Biden following the endorsement, which comes at a crucial moment in the 2020 campaign. As recently as last week, some of Biden’s donors were weighing abandoning his campaign after he struggled in the first states to vote in the Democratic primary — but many Biden backers are now staying with the campaign until at least after Super Tuesday, to see how Biden performs.
“We really do need a leader who can win the White House back and maintain our majority in the House and the Senate,” Costos said in an interview. “It’s crunch time, and I think Joe’s the right man to do it.”
Costos was one of the most prolific fundraisers who supported former President Barack Obama, and his partner, interior designer Michael Smith, redecorated the White House for the Obamas.
Like many big Democratic fundraisers, Costos lent his help to a number of presidential candidates throughout 2019, cutting checks to Pete Buttigieg, Amy Klobuchar, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker and Beto O’Rourke, and doing outreach for several candidates as well, he said. But Costos gave Biden in particular a boost last May, when he held a fundraiser at his Los Angeles home alongside other Hollywood donors that netted $750,000 for the former vice president.
Now, Costos is planning a New York event for Biden in mid-March, he said, and he will work on “putting a host of activities together” for Biden, including more fundraising and outreach to donors, traveling with the campaign and speaking out on Biden’s behalf.
Costos held off on getting more involved in Biden’s campaign until now, he said.
“I’ve supported several of the candidates who have been up on the debate stage with him,” Costos said. “Now this has come to a point where this in my hometown. And I need to go ahead and support Joe Biden.”
Costos said two issues in particular drove him to back Biden in the race: Biden’s commitment to fighting piracy in the entertainment industry, which he witnessed while serving as ambassador to Spain, and Biden’s early endorsement of gay marriage in 2012.
“It’s really important that we don’t let people in [LGBTQ] communities forget, and remind them that it was Joe who really led the effort on that. That’s why I really wanted to make this happen now,” Costos said.
