Ms Rachel builds sprawling media empire while shelling out thousands to progressive candidates
The popular children's YouTuber Rachel Accurso has spent over $22,000 backing Democratic and progressive candidates since 2024, while her toddler-facing brand has expanded into Netflix, Penguin Random House and the toy aisles of Target.
Better known as "Ms. Rachel," the online star has cemented herself as the face of a multimillion-dollar children’s entertainment empire. The former New York City preschool educator, who sings nursery rhymes and teaches language to more than 21 million YouTube subscribers, has also become one of the most politically outspoken figures in her arena, drawing scrutiny for her positions on the Israel-Hamas war, racial issues and various Trump administration immigration policies.
"Ms. Rachel is a children's entertainer, a personality that spawned from the YouTube ecosystem and has now become a fixture alongside other big preschool brands like Sesame Street or Bluey or Cocomelon," James Zahn, editor-in-chief of "The Toy Book," told Fox News Digital.
"For families that have ‘littles,’ as she would say, she's a part of daily life at this point," he added.
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Accurso, 43, launched her YouTube channel in 2019 after finding few media resources for her son, who had a speech delay as a toddler.
Her channel quickly surged in popularity, leading her to create "Songs for Littles," a recurring series in which Accurso — clad in her signature pink shirt, overalls and headband — performs a mix of classic and original children's songs for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.
Her rise to fame has made her one of the most commercially significant figures in American children’s media — and, at the same time, one of the most politically outspoken.
According to federal records, Accurso has donated roughly $22,500 to various Democratic and progressive candidates since 2024, and has made headlines for her outspoken stances on the Israel-Hamas war and other politically charged topics.
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Accurso has managed to secure deals with Netflix, Penguin Random House Books and Spin Master Toys.
"These companies look at it as: if an entertainer doesn't blur real life into the content, that tends to make things a little bit safer," Zahn said.
Earlier this year, Spin Master debuted a line of toys in collaboration with Accurso — marking yet another feather in her cap as her brand hit the shelves of big-box stores such as Target and Amazon.
"In the years leading up to the announcement of Ms. Rachel's toy deal with Spin Master, there was a bidding war," Zahn said. "So toy and game makers knew that she was a personality with a ton of reach that was worth talking to."
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"I distinctly remember at Toy Fair New York knowing that Ms. Rachel was in the building — not in character, but she was taking meetings," he continued. "And eventually the question became, within the industry: who is going to get the Ms. Rachel toys?"
The line features a variety of toys geared toward both learning and entertainment, with Ms. Rachel personified as a toy-version of herself in several sets.
Her reach has also spread from the online ecosystem into both mainstream and print media after she landed partnerships with Netflix in 2025 and book publisher Penguin Random House in 2024.
"The Ms. Rachel deal with Netflix brings her show to kids who may not otherwise have access to it," Zahn said. "Even though we're in such a screen-heavy world, not every family allows their kids to operate on YouTube."
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"When we think of media, and we think how digital it is, the analog basis — especially for the younger kids — is very, very key," he added, referring to Accurso’s line of children’s books.
The multi-pronged licensing approach to Accurso’s brand marks a significant — and somewhat unprecedented — shift in children’s entertainment, in which influencers reign in spaces traditionally reserved for mainstream media.
"Today's children, even from the youngest ages, don't just want to watch a television program," David Kleeman, senior vice president of global trends for Dubit, told Fox News Digital. "They want to be part of the media that they consume. They want to play with it. They want to act it out. They want to wear the clothing."
As Accurso’s persona continues to reach into every aspect of a child’s life — from the shows they watch to the toys they play with — Kleeman emphasizes the need for the individual behind the brand to maintain a level of trust with the parents choosing to keep her content in the hands of their children.
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"Parents have always looked to media as a support for what they’re doing with their kids," Kleeman said. "We tell parents, ‘You’re your child’s first teacher.’ That petrifies a lot of parents, so [they] look for ways to supplement what [they’re] able to do for your child."
However, Accurso’s public politics have made her children’s education brand synonymous with hot-button political issues, such as the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and tensions surrounding Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
She's also put some money behind prominent Democrats.
In 2024, the day after then-President Joe Biden dropped out of the ongoing election and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his Democratic successor, Accurso donated $250 to the Harris Victory Fund.
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In the days following, she contributed an additional $750 in funds to Harris for President and the Harris Victory Fund, according to Federal Election Commission records. By September 2024, Accurso had shelled out an additional $2,000 in donations to Harris’ campaign — bringing the total to $3,000 in campaign contributions, records show.
One year later, Accurso made a $5,000 donation to Cameron Kasky’s New York congressional campaign, according to NYC Campaign Finance Board records obtained by Fox News Digital. She was issued a $1,500 refund from Kasky’s campaign on the same day.
Kasky — a survivor of the 2018 high school mass shooting in Parkland, Florida — ran on a platform centered around abolishing ICE, ending military funding to Israel and stricter gun-violence laws.
He ultimately dropped out of the race in January 2026 following a trip to the West Bank, in which he cited a new focus on stopping "settler violence" in the region, according to an X post.
Throughout 2026, campaign finance records show Accurso has spent $12,000 on various New York races with candidates of similar views.
The children’s educator donated $5,000 to former New York State Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou’s state Senate campaign, plus an additional $3,500 to Democratic socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier and $4,500 to former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander.
While Niou failed to win in the primaries earlier this year, both Chevalier and Lander won the Democratic nominations for their respective congressional campaigns.
All three candidates have strongly campaigned on platforms that are critical of both Israel and ICE.
Federal Election Commission records also show Accurso gave $3,000 to Abdul El-Sayed’s Michigan Senate campaign in July, marking yet another contribution to a controversial candidate who has repeatedly alleged Israel is committing a "genocide" in Gaza.
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"I am political," she said in March, describing her opposition to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She has been similarly direct about the Israel-Hamas war, drawing scrutiny in 2025 after appearing in a video referring to Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza as her "friend" — days before Azaiza admitted to withholding footage of Israeli hostages being beaten by a crowd in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023.
"There isn't a lot of precedent when it comes to a kid's entertainer making comments outside of their content that rub people the wrong way — or in some cases the right way," Zahn said.
The YouTuber’s checkbook tells a similar story, with her net worth reportedly estimated at around $50 million. Last year, Forbes’ 2025 Top Creators List ranked Accurso at No. 20 with a whopping $23 million in annual earnings.
The dollar figures — and subsequent brand deals — signify an apparent fan separation between Ms. Rachel as a brand and Accurso as a public figure.
"It's always an issue when you have a presenter who is basically presenting as themselves," Kleeman told Fox News Digital. "Mr. Rogers just was ‘Mr. Rogers.’ There was no character or artifice there. Ms. Rachel has created ‘Ms. Rachel,’ as opposed to Rachel Accurso."
"Viewers often have a problem separating that real-life person from the character," he added.
The sentiment was echoed by Zahn, who suggests that Accurso’s high-profile political stances are doing little to deter brands from signing her YouTube persona.
"Companies can take multiple approaches, as we've seen with other celebrity controversies," Zahn said. "They can choose to back the celebrity, they can push back from the celebrity, they can distance themselves from it, or they can say nothing at all. And sometimes saying nothing at all is what it really needs."
While parents may be keyed into Accurso’s views on topics such as Gaza and gender representation, Kleeman argues that as long as the content creator keeps politics out of her educational materials, she will likely feel little pushback from both brands and fans.
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"I think she's been very careful to keep what she puts out to children focused on the child development, on the learning, on the play," Kleeman told Fox News Digital. "I think that Netflix or any channel that’s carrying content that’s being presented by a real person is going to have to balance how well that person is conveying what it is they’re transmitting to kids — the specific children’s content, not the things that go around it."
Fox News Digital reached out to Accurso, Netflix, Penguin Random House and Spin Master for comment.
