'Doug Emhoff Slapped Me So Hard...': Second Gentleman's Ex-Girlfriend Opens Up About 2012 Incident

An ex of second gentleman Doug Emhoff said she was "embarrassed and humiliated" when Emhoff slapped her at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival in France. The woman, a New York attorney, confirmed the incident to Daily Mail and added that Vice President Kamala Harris' husband has maintained a "completely fabricated persona" as a public figure. "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 2-3 am. He slaps me so hard I spin around, and I'm in utter shock," she told the outlet."There had been no fight, no argument. In that moment, his mask had dropped and I saw his dark side," she added. Three friends of the New York attorney came forward with the allegations against the second gentleman earlier this month. The allegations of Emhoff slapping his former girlfriend came to light when he was being praised for extending his support for wife Kamala Harris' run for presidency. "What's frightening for a woman that's been on the other end of it, is watching this completely fabricated persona being portrayed," the New York attorney told the Daily Mail, explaining what prompted her to speak on the record. According to the report, Doug Emhoff and the woman had met in 2012 on a dating website He was in Los Angeles while the woman was living in New York. The couple went on their first date in March 2012. Emhoff's spokesperson has denied the allegations, telling the news website Semafor, "Any suggestion that he would or has ever hit a woman is false."