Doug Emhoff Responds To Report That He Forcefully Slapped Ex-Girlfriend In 2012

A rep for second gentleman Doug Emhoff on Thursday denied a British tabloid report that he slapped his then-girlfriend during the Cannes Film Festival in 2012.

“This report is untrue,” the spokesperson told the news site Semafor. “Any suggestion that he would or has ever hit a woman is false.”

Emhoff, who has been helping his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, on the presidential campaign trail, allegedly hit the unnamed woman so hard that she “spun around,” the Daily Mail reported Wednesday. The article cited three friends of hers who said they were familiar with the incident.

Emhoff may have lashed out in a fit of jealousy, the friends said, over a perceived flirtation by the woman toward a valet. She reportedly slapped Emhoff back. The alleged victim declined to speak to the outlet.

Emhoff, who married Harris in 2014, came under scrutiny in August when he publicly admitted to having an affair that contributed to the breakup of his first marriage. That followed a Daily Mail exposé on his extramarital relationship with a teacher at his children’s school.