Vice President Kamala Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, is being accused of slapping his former girlfriend for allegedly openly flirting with a valet at an upscale gala in 2012, according to a new report.
The Second Gentleman, 59, reportedly struck his then-girlfriend — described as a prominent New York lawyer — so forcefully that she spun around while standing in a valet line after an event at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2012, according to three unnamed friends of the woman who spoke to the Daily Mail. All three sources requested anonymity, citing fears of retaliation from Emhoff, who is often seen as an advocate for women's rights, the new report claims.
Opposite Picture
On Sunday, Emhoff made news for an interview with Jen Psaki, where he was praised for changing "the perception of masculinity." "To me, it's the right thing to do," Emhoff said of his role as a supportive husband.
The three friends who spoke to the outlet shared photos of Emhoff with the woman he allegedly slapped in 2012, along with documents verifying their trip to the south of France around the time of the supposed incident.
According to the report, the woman declined to comment on the matter.
The Harris campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
This alleged incident took place a year before Emhoff, an accomplished entertainment lawyer, met Harris on a blind date. At the time, Harris was serving as California's attorney general. The two began dating in 2013 and were married in August 2014.
Following the alleged slap, the unidentified New York attorney reportedly called one of her friends, a male businessman, crying in a cab immediately after the incident, the outlet said.
The friend claimed that Emhoff had pushed his way into the cab and was with the woman when she made the phone call.
"It was very clear what she was telling me," the source told the Daily Mail. "She said she was with a guy, her date, she was at the Cannes Film Festival, and he hit her. She was in the car with the guy at the time.
The woman allegedly told him, "I didn't know what to do, I didn't know whether to call the French police. I couldn't get a hold of her after calling back."
The friend later mentioned that he received more details about the incident afterward.
"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," the source 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."
Woman Slapped Back
According to the businessman, she slapped Emhoff in return. "My impression is that he had a lot to drink.... she wasn't slurring her words," he said of the woman's conversation with him right after the alleged incident.
"She told me that she broke up with him that night." The couple had been together for around three months, the Daily Mail reported.
The woman contacted her businessman friend because she wanted "Doug to see her on the phone, telling somebody," her friends explained to the outlet. "She believed that would afford her with some protection."
Another friend, a female attorney based in New York, also said that the woman shared details about the incident with her, according to the Daily Mail.
"They had dinner. She said Doug was very charming, and it was lovely. Then I believe it was between 2-3am, it was still raging, but she was wearing four-inch heels and a floor-length gown, so it was time to depart," the lawyer said.
"She said there'd been no fight before he hit her. You would have thought it was this fairytale trip."
She was "completely caught off guard" by Emhoff's sudden attack, the woman alleged.
"He hauled up and slapped her so hard she spun around. She said she was in utter shock," she told the Daily Mail. "She was so furious, she slapped him on one side, and then on the other cheek with the other hand."
All three friends reported that the woman tried to leave after the assault, but Emhoff pushed his way into the cab with her, as stated by the Daily Mail.
The third friend, identified as a female executive at a leading company, reported that the woman shared details of the incident with her in 2018, during the time when then-Senator Harris was making headlines for questioning Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh regarding sexual assault allegations, according to the Mail.
"[She] is a gorgeous, strong woman and you would never expect somebody to hit her," she told the Daily Mail.
She claimed that Emhoff was reportedly unremorseful. Emhoff reportedly cut the trip short to go back to Los Angeles for his daughter Ella's 13th birthday, and he and the woman never met again, according to the three friends.
The trio provided a copy of the couple's itinerary from that ill-fated trip, which indicated a layover flight from Newark, NJ, to Nice, France, on May 22, 2012.
In a May 17, 2012 email, the woman mentioned that she and Doug were leaving early so he could fly back to Los Angeles.
The friends shared that the couple's relationship began after meeting on Match.com. Things progressed quickly within three months, with the woman already meeting Emhoff's children and parents.
Emhoff even brought his son, Cole, along on their first date in March 2012, according to the sources.
"She went to a hotel bar to meet Doug after work. It was a typical Match.com date where you only commit to a drink," the attorney friend told the Daily Mail.
