Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff has denied the veracity of a Daily Mail report in which three anonymous sources accused him of slapping his ex-girlfriend during a trip to the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.
Fox News Digital has not been able to independently confirm this allegation.
“This report is false,” an anonymous representative for Vice President Kamala Harris’ husband told news outlet Semaphore. “Any suggestion that he would or has ever hit a woman is false.”
An exclusive Tuesday article in the Daily Mail alleges Emhoff slapped his then-girlfriend while the couple waited in a valet line after an event in Nice, France, in 2012. Citing anonymous sources. The alleged altercation occurred when the woman – identified only by her pseudonym “Jane” and described as a successful New York lawyer, was having an affair with an acolyte, according to the article.
Representatives for the Harris campaign, the Vice President’s office, and Emhoff’s ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, did not comment despite repeated requests from Fox News.
Several media outlets, including Semaphore, were unable to match the Daily Mail’s coverage, and noted that traditional media companies such as the New York Times had not yet reported on the allegations.
The Daily Mail article is based on the recollections of three alleged friends of Jane’s. The media outlet said the officials requested anonymity for fear of retaliation from Emhoff. The three friends reportedly used photos of the two when they were still a couple to prove they traveled to France in May 2012, as well as correspondence and itineraries between Emhoff and Jane. The table was reportedly provided to the media.
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Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff participates in a stage test prior to the opening of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on August 19, 2024. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The Daily Mail reports that one of the sources is a female New York lawyer who heard about the alleged incident from Jane.
“He picked her up and slapped her so hard that she spun around,” the source said. “She said she was in complete shock. She was so furious that she slapped him on one side and then slapped him on the other cheek with her other hand.”
Another friend, described by the Daily Mail as a New York businessman, said Jane called him sobbing after the incident.
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“It was very clear what she was saying to me,” the source said, according to the Daily Mail. “She said she went to the Cannes Film Festival with a guy she was on a date with and he hit her. She was in the car with him at the time.”
The male friend said he learned more details about the alleged episode after the initial phone call.


Vice President Kamala Harris hugs Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff after his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 22, 2024. (Mandel Gunn/AFP via Getty Images)
“It was around 3am. They were leaving and they were both drinking. There was a huge queue for taxis,” he told the outlet. “She approached one of the attendants and gave him 100 euros or something to get to the front of the line. She told me she put her hand on his shoulder. Doug said apparently she was flirting with him. He seemed to think she was there, so he approached her and slapped her in the face.
A third friend of the female executive said she learned about the incident in 2014 and learned new details from Jane, who made headlines in 2018 when questioned by Harris, then a California senator. he told the Mail. Supreme Court nominee accused of sexual assault.
“[She’s]a gorgeous, strong woman and you can’t imagine anyone hitting on her,” a third friend told the Daily Mail. “He hit her and she said back, ‘Don’t do that again.’
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A third Daily Mail source said: “I asked her if she had ever apologized. She said no, but he made a comment about the blow she had given him. It was a tennis analogy. But there was no apology at all.”
All three friends told the outlet that Jane punched Emhoff back after he allegedly slapped her first. Emhoff also claimed that after the alleged slap, Jane tried to leave the valet area, but Emhoff got into a taxi with her.
Friends said Jane and Emhoff had been dating for about three months before news of the trip to France broke. Emhoff cut short his trip, returned to the United States for his daughter’s birthday in late May, and never saw Jane again, friends told the outlet.


Doug Emhoff, speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on August 20, 2024, points out: (Reuters/Mike Seeger)
Emhoff’s alleged affair with Jane came to light after his divorce from his first wife in 2008 and before his marriage to Harris in 2014.
The New York Post slammed Emhoff on Wednesday in a cover story detailing the Daily Mail article, calling him “the worst kind of gentleman.”


Sen. Kamala Harris, then the party’s vice presidential candidate, and her husband Douglas Emhoff stand on stage at the Democratic National Convention on August 19, 2020 in Wilmington, Delaware. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Emhoff just gave a sit-down interview on MSNBC on Sunday in which he praised Jen Psaki for reshaping “the perception of masculinity.”
“There’s also an important and interesting part about how people talk about your character: how your character reshaped perceptions of masculinity,” Psaki said. “I don’t know if you planned it, but you’re an incredibly supportive spouse. Was that an evolution for you? That’s the role you can play as first gentleman. Do you think that’s part of it?
“It’s funny. I’ve started thinking about this a lot. I’ve always been like this. My dad has always been like this. To me, supporting women is the right thing to do. It’s about women. “It’s the same thing.” Kamala and me. We support each other and we support each other. ”
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She added, “I’ve said many times that when I lift up women, I support them in pay equity, childcare, family leave, and all of this hellish post-Dobbs issues. Women are less than that. It shouldn’t be,” he added. Women should not have less rights or be treated differently. That’s not the American way. ”
In August, critics pointed out that Emhoff admitted to having an affair with the family’s nanny during his first marriage years earlier, and footage of the exchange spread like wildfire on social media.
Mr. Emhoff’s confession came shortly after the Daily Mail published another report in August alleging that Mr. Emhoff impregnated his daughter’s nanny.
The incident occurred before Emhoff dated and eventually married Harris.
“During our first marriage, Kerstin and I went through some tough times because of my actions. I took responsibility and in the years since then we have worked through things as a family and come out stronger in each other’s shoes. ,” Emhoff said. Over the summer, he admitted to having an affair but declined to reveal the name of the nanny.


Kirstin Emhoff has opened up about her ex-husband Doug Emhoff’s affair with her nanny. (Tommaso Body/Getty Images)
Emhoff and his first wife were married from 1992 to 2008 and had two adult children. Ms. Harris married Ms. Emhoff in 2014 and helped them co-parent their children, whom she calls their stepmother, “Mamalla.”
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A female friend of Jane’s, who works as an executive, said Mr. Emhoff told Jane about divorcing him in 2012.
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The Daily Mail’s report comes just five weeks before the election in which Harris will face former President Trump at the polls.
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