By The ex-girlfriend of Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff has come forward with allegations that he beat her during a 2012 celebrity event, accusing him of a violent outburst driven by jealousy. Speaking under the alias “Jane” to The Daily Mail, she confirmed claims made by three of her friends, recounting that Emhoff, now the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, struck her during an event in the south of France.
According to Jane, a successful lawyer in New York, the incident occurred on May 24, 2012, at the prestigious amfAR gala dinner in the French Riviera. She said that after a night of celebration, they were waiting in a taxi line outside the Hotel du Cap around 3 a.m. when a misunderstanding triggered Emhoff’s violent reaction.
Jane claims that while she was attempting to tip a valet $100 to skip the long line, a drunken Emhoff misinterpreted the gesture as flirtation, according to The Daily Mail.
I put my hand on the valet’s shoulder and tell him, with my $100, could you please get me a car as soon as possible.
‘As I’m talking to him, Doug got out of the line, comes up, turns me around by my right shoulder. I’m completely caught off guard, I’m not bracing, I’m in four inch heels, wearing a full-length gown and it’s between 2-3am.
‘He slaps me so hard I spin around, and I’m in utter shock.
‘There had been no fight, no argument. It had been a completely fantastic event. I am so furious. The only thing I could think to do was slap him back. I slapped him on one side, and on the other cheek with the other hand.
‘In that moment, his mask had dropped and I saw his dark side,’ she added.
The next day, according to Jane, Emhoff told her they were “even,” indicating he believed the matter was resolved after their mutual slaps. The relationship between the two reportedly continued but began to deteriorate after Emhoff disclosed more troubling details about his past.
Jane told the newspaper that in April 2012, just before the slapping incident, Emhoff confessed to her about an extramarital affair he had with his daughter’s teacher, Najen Naylor, before his 2009 divorce. She said Emhoff revealed that the affair resulted in a pregnancy, which ended in miscarriage. Emhoff allegedly admitted to getting into an intense argument with Naylor, though he did not specify whether the altercation became physical.
“Without skipping a beat, and staring straight ahead at the road, he tells me he had an affair with his daughter’s teacher and that she claimed she was pregnant,” Jane recalled. “He’s telling me this very casually, like it’s no big deal.” Emhoff allegedly said he “got really angry” during the argument with his mistress, who had threatened to sue him for causing her miscarriage.
Records from the Los Angeles Police Department, obtained by the outlet revealed that police were called to Naylor’s residence on June 28, 2009, for what was classified as a priority level three emergency—a situation considered life-threatening and requiring immediate response with lights and sirens.
Jane stated that she had been reluctant to speak publicly about the 2012 incident, but had shared her story with close friends years before Emhoff rose to national prominence as the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris. “He’s being held out to be the antithesis of who he actually is, and that is utterly shocking.”
She claims that, in a similar fashion to his wife, Emhoff has completely fabricated a persona for the public.
It’s seemed to work.
Despite the serious allegations, there has been no public comment from female celebrities who have supported Harris. In stark contrast to the widespread #MeToo movement that galvanized public figures to call out instances of misconduct, stars like Taylor Swift, Pink, and Oprah Winfrey continue to back Harris without addressing the accusations against her husband.
Both Tim Walz and Barack Obama have argued that is it misogynist to not back Harris and Emhoff.
One MSNBC host has even gone so far as to claim that the alleged woman beater has “reshaped masculinity.”
The Second Gentleman nor Vice President Harris, have not publicly commented on the allegations.
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