Who is Kerstin Emhoff? Doug Emhoff's ex-wife wanted to campaign for Kamala Harris' presidency bid
Former Senator Kamala Harris made history when she became the first woman, first woman of color, first African-American person and the first person of South Asian descent to swear-in as the Vice President of the United States, alongside former Vice President, Joe Biden, who took the oath to become the 46th President of the country.
Now, Harris continues to break boundaries and reject stereotypes in the first days in her role. Among the many stereotypes she continues to battle is that of the "feud" between the ex-wife and the current wife. When Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, became the first Second Gentleman of the country, his ex-wife Kerstin Emhoff was present as well during the Inauguration Day festivities.
Doug Emhoff and Kamala Harris married in August 2014. The former entertainment litigator was previously married to Kerstin Emhoff (nee Mackin) for 16 years from 1992 to 2008. He has two children with Emhoff, Cole and Ella Emhoff, who are Harris' stepchildren.
Who is Kerstin Emhoff?
Kerstin Emhoff is a film producer and founder and CEO of the production company Prettybird, a company that specializes in branded film and music content with a roster of diverse creators and filmmakers.
Emhoff moved to Los Angeles after film school and worked with a small production company. By 2002, she was a principal and executive producer at HSI Productions. In 2007, she co-founded Prettybird with Paul Hunter, her colleague at HSI. The company was named Creativity's 2015 Production Company of the Year, and under Emhoff's leadership, it has won Grammy and Emmy Awards, and Cannes Lions.
She herself won a News & Documentary Emmy Award in 2012 and was the executive producer of the 2013 film, 'Manhunt: The Search for Bin Laden', which won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special. More recently, she was listed as a producer of the 2020 documentary, 'AKA Jane Roe'. In 2016, Emhoff founded Pipelines, a not-for-profit initiative to increase opportunities in advertising for young, diverse people.
Kerstin Emhoff's relationship with Kamala Harris
Harris and Emhoff are famously close, with the Vice President writing in an essay last year, "To know Cole and Ella is to know that their mother Kerstin is an incredible mother." She continued, "Kerstin and I hit it off ourselves and are dear friends. She and I became a duo of cheerleaders in the bleachers at Ella’s swim meets and basketball games, often to Ella’s embarrassment. We sometimes joke that our modern family is almost a little too functional."
According to Marie Claire, Emhoff volunteered on the campaign trail when Harris was running for the Democratic presidential ticket before she dropped out. This prompted Harris' campaign staff to shockingly react, "The ex-wife wants to do what?" according to a recollection by Emhoff.
The publication also noted that Emhoff was supportive of her ex-husband's relationship with Harris, saying, "When [Doug and Kamala] first started dating and [Kamala] was [attorney general of California], I just thought, 'Wow, that's cool. Don't mess this up!'" Emhoff attended the Inauguration Day festivities, sharing snaps from the event to her social media page, writing in one post, "Here we go!"
