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Jon Ossoff Spends Thousands on ‘Makeup Services’ From Artist Who Worked on Hollywood Blockbusters Like ‘The Notebook’
Washington Free Beacon ^ | 07/23/2026 | Chuck Ross

Posted on 07/24/2026 3:46:22 AM PDT by DFG

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D., Ga.) has spent thousands of dollars in campaign funds on "makeup services" in 2026, and his artist of choice has a long list of Hollywood credits, including The Notebook and The Hunger Games, a Washington Free Beacon review found.

Ossoff has paid makeup artist Stephanie Ponder $2,887 for "makeup services" since February, federal campaign finance disclosures show. The most recent payment of $900 came on June 10. An advertisement on the online production crew directory SHOOTS describes Ponder as an Atlanta-based freelancer and member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees who offers "Services for all phases of Makeup: Film, Video, Print, Runway." It also includes credits on films like the Disney-produced Denzel Washington hit Remember the Titans.

The credit list on Ponder's IMDb page lists that movie and other blockbusters, including the 2004 Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams romantic drama The Notebook, the 2013 and 2014 action flicks The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, and the 2023 DC Comics superhero film Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Ponder most recently worked as a makeup artist on the 2026 Netflix limited series His & Hers starring Jon Bernthal and Tessa Thompson.

Ossoff's four-figure makeup expenditures stand out among federal candidates. The Georgia senator who is running for reelection against Republican Rep. Mike Collins (Ga.), has reported spending more on makeup than any other candidate this year, beating out the likes of far-left Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.). Ocasio-Cortez has spent $1,837.93 on "campaign event hair & makeup services" in 2026, while Tlaib has spent $320 on "hair and makeup services."

The spending also comes as liberal media figures praise the 39-year-old Ossoff's carefully managed on-camera presence and float him as a prospective 2028 presidential candidate.

A recent Puck profile asserted that Ossoff "has seemingly reinvented himself" in anticipation of a 2028 presidential bid, adding a "beefier physique to his studied, Obama-like cadence." New York Times columnist Ezra Klein noted that as a former documentary filmmaker, Ossoff "actually knows how to create TV." Klein pointed to Ossoff’s polished campaign videos, which rely heavily on the use of the "hero shot," in which a photo or video is taken from a low angle in order to make the subject appear more imposing and powerful. MS NOW host Chris Hayes similarly described Ossoff as "very conventionally handsome and young" and noted he "could be in a movie."

Vogue, meanwhile, likened Ossoff to "an attractive camp counselor" in an article about the "internet thirst" surrounding him. Queerty, an LGBTQ publication, compared Ossoff to "an attractive version of Atticus Finch," the protagonist of To Kill a Mockingbird, adding, "Jon Ossoff & his slutty little glasses are already our summertime political crush."

On the campaign trail, however, Ossoff presents himself less as a polished pretty boy and more as a populist fighter for the working class. In a recent interview, he said Vice President J.D. Vance "has zero credibility as a champion for America's working class." As it happens, Ossoff's makeup artist also earned a credit on the 2020 film Hillbilly Elegy, the Hollywood adaptation of Vance's memoir recounting his low-income upbringing in Middletown, Ohio. Ossoff's father, by contrast, is an attorney who owns a publishing company and purchased the Washington, D.C., home that Ossoff lived in when he worked as a congressional aide, the Free Beacon reported.

While the exact nature of Ponder's makeup services for the Ossoff campaign is unclear, Ossoff's campaign paid Ponder within days of high-profile rallies, including one in Augusta, Ga., on April 18 and one in Atlanta on May 31. In Augusta, Ossoff mocked the notion that "MAGA was for the working class." In Atlanta, he said that "for too many across our state … groceries, rent, insurance, taxes, the car note, the power bill—the math just does not work."

Ossoff's campaign paid Ponder $1,087.33 9 days after the Augusta rally and $900 10 days after the Atlanta rally. His first payment to Ponder, also for $900, came on Feb. 28, records show. The payments appear to be on the high end for makeup services. Ocasio-Cortez, for example, spent $450 on her most recent "makeup services" expenditure, while Tlaib spent $110.

Neither Ossoff's campaign nor Ponder responded to requests for comment.


TOPICS: Politics
KEYWORDS: demagogicparty; ezraklein; gay; georgia; homosexualagenda; jonossoff; lgbt; lgbtq; mikecollins; newyorkslimes; newyorktimes; ossoff; prideparade; raphaelwarnock; stephanieponder; transgender; vogue
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1 posted on 07/24/2026 3:46:22 AM PDT by DFG
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To: DFG
That should buff right out.


2 posted on 07/24/2026 3:54:06 AM PDT by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
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To: Libloather

She couldn’t take care of that stink-eye. What a pathetic boy.


3 posted on 07/24/2026 3:57:49 AM PDT by healy61
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To: DFG

Wait til those lefties find out he’s JEWISH!!!


4 posted on 07/24/2026 3:58:15 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion.....the HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: DFG

All the makeup in the world can’t cover up the ugly inside.


5 posted on 07/24/2026 4:13:08 AM PDT by quantim (Victory is not relative, it is absolute.)
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To: Ann Archy

Married to a high priestess of abortion? I have to wonder if that will trump both his Jewish and white boy foibles in lefty land. They have ‘flexible’ standards sometimes when it comes to hierarchy.


6 posted on 07/24/2026 4:15:56 AM PDT by Kudsman (Socialism= dead people are cheaper and eat less.)
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To: DFG

Is “make-up services” a euphemism for something else?

Inquiring minds want to know.


7 posted on 07/24/2026 4:16:58 AM PDT by mewzilla (Swing away, Mr. President, swing away! 🇺🇸 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿)
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To: DFG

Another little Commie creap.


8 posted on 07/24/2026 4:17:29 AM PDT by cp124 (Bring back the Constitution.)
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To: Libloather

Vanity, thy name is Ossoff.


9 posted on 07/24/2026 4:23:36 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (Perfection is impossible. But if you pursue perfection you may achieve excellence - - Vince Lombardi)
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To: Kudsman

NHe’s married....to a girl????? Who is it?


10 posted on 07/24/2026 4:26:56 AM PDT by Ann Archy (Abortion.....the HUMAN Sacrifice to the god of Convenience.)
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To: DFG

Remembering the John Edwards mirror video.


11 posted on 07/24/2026 4:30:49 AM PDT by jimfree (My 23 y/o granddaughter has more quality exec experience than most Dem pres candidates.)
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To: Libloather

Doesn’t look like it worked


12 posted on 07/24/2026 4:34:01 AM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the Days of Lot; They Did Eat, They Drank, They Bought, They Sold ......)
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To: Ann Archy

Wife: Dr. Alisha Kramer, an OB/GYN physician.


13 posted on 07/24/2026 4:34:02 AM PDT by Kudsman (Socialism= dead people are cheaper and eat less.)
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To: SaveFerris

Hard to hide the Demon.


14 posted on 07/24/2026 4:35:47 AM PDT by Kudsman (Socialism= dead people are cheaper and eat less.)
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To: Libloather

Hillary Clinton, was obviously advised that she should seem more relatable by telling personal anecdotes. So in an interview she told the story about calculating the number of hours she’d spent in a makeup chair having her face done. It was in the thousands of hours. The expression on her face was we should be sympathetic because of her sacrifice. Democrats trying to be relatable and “normal” just come across as out of touch and clueless.

Why would a young man need any makeup at all? Let’s suppose he had facial scars...still no need for makeup. Depending on the audience I might highlight them, though.

On the other hand, Ossoff looks kind of creepy. Maybe a bit of vanishing creme would help.


15 posted on 07/24/2026 4:44:01 AM PDT by Gen.Blather (Oh, gosh! I said that out loud. I'm so sorry.)
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To: DFG

Ossoff will probably win. Collins is a horrible candidate. Why the GOP can’t get their crap together is beyond me.


16 posted on 07/24/2026 4:48:29 AM PDT by Hoboto (I blame Hippies.)
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To: DFG
She provided makeup services to We Were Soldiers Once and Young?

Cool.

I didn't realize that part of the movie was shot in GA.

The are hundreds of additional jobs needed for movie production, so all the money that GA has paid out to make movies does have a trickle down effect.

And professional makeup nowadays is nothing like the pancake makeup from many years ago.

17 posted on 07/24/2026 4:50:39 AM PDT by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: DFG

All July he has been spending big bucks on advertising on both the alphabet networks and streaming (YouTube in particular on that last).


18 posted on 07/24/2026 4:52:25 AM PDT by FreedomPoster (Islam delenda est)
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To: Hoboto

How do we solve turnout apathy? Idk, maybe Pass The Save America Act?


19 posted on 07/24/2026 4:54:03 AM PDT by Kudsman (Socialism= dead people are cheaper and eat less.)
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To: Kudsman; fwdude; artichokegrower; Libloather; SeekAndFind; Albion Wilde

(Hard to hide the Demon)

AI Overview (with Political Party added):

DEMOCRAT Senator Jon Ossoff has a history of participating in LGBTQ+ pride events in Georgia, most notably making history alongside DEMOCRAT Senator Raphael Warnock in October 2022 by becoming the first sitting U.S. Senators from Georgia to march in the Atlanta Pride Parade.

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈

Key Pride Appearances and Engagement

Atlanta Pride (2022):

Walked alongside Senator Raphael Warnock down Peachtree Street, drawing national attention as a milestone for Georgia politics.

Community Outreach:

Frequently engages with local LGBTQ+ advocates, youth groups, and equality organizations across the state.

Campaign Presence:

Team Ossoff regularly coordinates official campaign entries and vendor participation at regional pride festivals throughout Georgia.

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♀️🤦


20 posted on 07/24/2026 4:57:55 AM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the Days of Lot; They Did Eat, They Drank, They Bought, They Sold ......)
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