Vice President Kamala Harris‘ husband Doug Emhoff has been accused of slapping a former girlfriend more than a decade ago, according to a DailyMail.com report.
The second gentleman allegedly struck the woman in the face while waiting in a valet line after an event during the Cannes Film Festival in France in May 2012, three unnamed friends told the outlet.
The woman had been dating Emhoff for about three months at the time of the alleged assault, the outlet reported, after connecting on dating site Match.com.
Newsweek has contacted Emhoff, as well as Harris’ office and campaign, for comment via email.
DailyMail.com did not name the woman, instead using the pseudonym Jane and describing her only as a successful New York attorney. However, a video from the event shows a woman in a red dress with Emhof, and screengrabs were posted on social media by Sean Davis, the CEO and co-founder of The Federalist, a conservative online magazine.
The friends who spoke to the outlet were also not named, which DailyMail.com said was because they feared retaliation.
The report came as Emhoff, an entertainment lawyer, has been hitting the campaign trail in support of Harris. If she wins the presidency in November, he would be the nation’s first first gentleman.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff and Vice President Kamala Harris on August 22, 2024, in Chicago. Emhoff has been accused of slapping a former girlfriend more than a decade ago, according to a British news outlet.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The alleged assault is said to have occurred more than a year before Harris and Emhoff met on a blind date set up by a mutual friend in 2013. They married in 2014.
Jane’s friends told DailyMail.com that she had received tickets to attend the Foundation for AIDS Research Gala Dinner, which was held on May 24, 2012, at the Hotel du Cap in Antibes, near Cannes, and brought Emhoff as her guest.
They provided photos of the woman posing with Emhoff at the gala, as well as documentation with details about their trip to the south of France around the time of the alleged assault.
One friend told the DailyMail.com that Jane had called him sobbing shortly after the alleged assault occurred. “I didn’t know whether to call the French police. I couldn’t get a hold of her after calling back,” he said.
It was not clear if the alleged assault was reported to authorities.
The friend said Jane had provided details in later conversations.
“It was something like 3 a.m. They were trying to get out of there and they both had been drinking. There was a gigantic line for taxis,” he said.
“She went up to one of the valet guys, offered him 100 euros or whatever, to get to the head of the line. She told me she put her hand on his shoulder. Doug apparently thought that she was flirting, and came over and slapped her in the face. She slapped him back.”
The friend said Jane had told him she ended her relationship with Emhoff that night.
A second friend, a female attorney, told DailyMail.com that Jane had also told her about the alleged assault.
She was “completely caught off guard,” the friend said. “He hauled up and slapped her so hard she spun around. She said she was in utter shock. She was so furious, she slapped him on one side, and then on the other cheek with the other hand.”
The third friend said Jane had first told her in 2014 that she had dated Emhoff and detailed the alleged assault in 2018, when Harris, then a senator, was making headlines about her questioning of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh over allegations of sexual misconduct during his confirmation hearing.
The allegations came after Emhoff acknowledged in August that he had an affair during his first marriage to Kristen Emhoff, after alleged details about it were published by DailyMail.com. The outlet reported that Emhoff had an affair with a woman who was a nanny to his children and taught at their school.
“During my first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times on account of my actions. I took responsibility, and in the years since, we worked through things as a family and have come out stronger on the other side,” Emhoff said in a statement provided to CNN.
Kerstin Emhoff, a film producer, also issued her own statement.
“Doug and I decided to end our marriage for a variety of reasons, many years ago,” she said. “He is a great father to our kids, continues to be a great friend to me and I am really proud of the warm and supportive blended family Doug, Kamala, and I have built together.”
The pair were married in 1992 and have two children, Cole and Ella Emhoff. They divorced in 2010.
