Amanda Gorman turned down $17 million in endorsement deals after inauguration

Amanda Gorman became a household name following her powerful performance at President Biden's inauguration a few months ago, and to say the Poet Laureate has been in high demand since then is an understatement. Over the past few months, Gorman has appeared at the Super Bowl, on national magazine covers, on talk shows, and has been interviewed by Michelle Obama.

But even with all her newfound fame, Gorman is keeping a sharp hold on her values. In a new interview with Vogue, the 23-year-old estimated she's turned down $17 million in endorsements because they didn't speak to the kind of content she wanted to align with.

"I didn't really look at the details, because if you see something and it says a million dollars, you're going to rationalize why that makes sense," she said, refusing to name one of the brands responsible for a huge offer. "I have to be conscious of taking commissions that speak to me." Even when it came to the Super Bowl, she explains she didn't do it for the money but rather for what she knew her appearance meant to the world. "I made so little money doing that shoot," said Gorman. "I did it because of what I thought it would mean for poetry in the country, to have poetry performed, for the first time in history, at the Super Bowl."

Gorman also discussed her discomfort towards being a "fashion influencer" after the buzz around her inauguration outfit (a red Prada headband and yellow Prada coat), which later sold out quickly across the Internet. As she told Vogue, even though her deal with modeling company IMG was in talks before the inauguration, she still feels wary about how she's perceived when it comes to someone else's clothes.

"When I'm part of a campaign, the entity isn't my body. It's my voice," she explained.

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