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Who is Montel Williams? Here's how he's connected to Vice President-elect Kamala Harris

Williams is perhaps best known as the host of the long-running daytime talk show called ‘The Montel Williams Show’, which ran for 17 seasons in syndication from 1991 to 2008

On Friday, November 13, a tweet was making the rounds had many people talking about it. The tweet read, “The Fact that Kamala Dated Montel and it seems like no one remembers lol,” and carried two pictures of the aforementioned names. 

So, who is Montel?

Montel Brian Anthony Williams, more popularly known as Montel, or as Montel Williams, is an American television personality, radio talk show host, actor, and motivational speaker. He is perhaps best known as the host of the long-running daytime talk show called ‘The Montel Williams Show’, which ran for 17 seasons in syndication from 1991 to 2008. 

The 64-year-old is a veteran, who has served in both the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy. Williams won the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show Host in 1996. Aside from that, he has also appeared on several different television shows like ‘JAG’, ‘All My Children’, ‘Touched by an Angel’, and more.

Williams was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999. The following year, he founded The Montel Williams MS Foundation -- a nonprofit organization with a focus on research and education. He has since gone on to make outstanding efforts to raise major awareness about the disease.

His relationship with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris

As per news reports, the two dated back in 2001, and even once publicly appeared as a couple together on the red carpet for the Eighth Annual Race to Erase MS in Los Angeles, alongside Williams' daughter, Ashley. Harris was working for the San Francisco City Attorney's Office at the time. A photo of her and Williams, at that time, ran in two publications -- Ebony and Jet -- after they attended the gala event.

In fact, Harris was wrongly identified as the mother of Ashley in Jet. The publication was later forced to print a retraction and point out that Ashley's mother was actually Williams' first wife Rochelle. Their relationship was reportedly a brief one, although there are no mentions of just how long the two dated.

Last year, in response to a since-deleted tweet from tabloid journalist Chris Spargo, Williams wrote on the social media website, “@KamalaHarris and I briefly dated about 20 years ago when we were both single. So what? I have great respect for Sen. Harris. I have to wonder if the same stories about her dating history would have been written if she were a male candidate?”

Harris is now married to Doug Emhoff, the soon-to-be Second Gentleman. The two wed in 2014. Another high-profile person that Harris dated in the past was Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco. 

Their relationship came into sharp focus when, in a letter to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 26, 2019, Brown indicated he might have helped Harris boost her career. Brown wrote: “Yes, we dated. It was more than 20 years ago. Yes, I may have influenced her career by appointing her to two state commissions when I was an Assembly speaker. And I certainly helped with her first race for district attorney in San Francisco. I have also helped the careers of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Gov. Gavin Newsom, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and a host of other politicians.”