Doug Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, faced backlash online Wednesday afternoon after an explosive report was published in a British newspaper of accusations that Emhoff hit his ex-girlfriend in the face at a high-profile event in Europe.

Three friends of the woman, a New York lawyer, told the Daily Mail about the alleged attack in 2012 on the condition that neither they nor the woman, who was only identified as “Jane,” be named out of fear of retaliation.

Two of the friends say that Jane told them about the incident right after it happened, while the third friend said that Jane told her several years later.

The report said Emhoff and Jane were in line waiting for a taxi as they were leaving the event when Jane went and tipped a valet, hoping to get moved to the front of the line. During the interaction, she allegedly placed her hand on his shoulder, and Emhoff thought that she was hitting on the valet.

He allegedly smacked her across the face so hard that she spun around, according to the Daily Mail article.

“In 2021, Tim Walz proclaimed October to be Domestic Violence Awareness Month for the State of Minnesota,” said podcaster Comfortably Smug. “Today, he is completely silent on Kamala Harris’ husband beating his ex-girlfriend.”

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Republican communications strategist Steve Guest posted on X: “Will the mainstream media care that Kamala Harris is married to a reported woman-beater?”

Will the mainstream media care that Kamala Harris is married to a reported woman-beater? https://t.co/rPOgxsmm98 pic.twitter.com/FgNxIsz5ck

— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) October 2, 2024

“Is this what they mean by toxic masculinity?” asked Donald Trump Jr.

Radio host Buck Sexton posted on X: “Tells you a lot about Doug’s ‘new masculinity’ that nobody is surprised the guy who cheated on his wife with the nanny also hits women in the face in public.”

The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro wrote on X: “Masculinity being redefined in real time as…toxic violence against women, apparently.”

“When #SluggerDoug isn’t beating women up, he’s knocking them up,” said actor James Woods.

The altercation allegedly happened at the May 2012 Cannes Film Festival in France as Emhoff and Jane waited in line for a taxi to take them back to their hotel room.

The two met on an online dating website and had been dating for three months when the incident occurred, the report said. The friends provided the British publication with photos of the two together, travel documents, and emails that they say confirm that the two were in a relationship and attended the event together.

The disturbing report comes after former Biden-Harris official and current MSNBC host Jen Psaki declared in a recent interview with Emhoff that he had “reshaped the perception of masculinity.”

Psaki made the remarks even though it had been recently revealed that Emhoff impregnated his children’s babysitter, which led to the end of his first marriage.

Jen Psaki to Second Gentleperson “Doug”: You have “reshaped the perception of masculinity.” 🤢 pic.twitter.com/Hsd3EIWkZW

— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) September 29, 2024

Jane received tickets to the star-studded May 24, 2012, event from wealthy friends and decided to take Emhoff as her plus one.

The first person who Jane told about the alleged assault was one of her male friends, who is a top New York businessman, the report said, who got a phone call from her moments after the attack happened.

“It was hard to hear her because she was sobbing. She told me she was with a guy and he hit her,” he told the publication. “It was very clear what she was telling me. She said she was with a guy, her date, she was at the Cannes Film Festival, and he hit her. She was in the car with the guy at the time.”

He said he did not know how to respond and wasn’t sure if he needed to call the police in France.

“It was something like 3am. They were trying to get out of there and they both had been drinking. There was a gigantic line for taxis,” he said, adding that she “went up to one of the valet guys, offered him 100 Euros or whatever, to get to the head of the line.”

“She told me she put her hand on his shoulder. Doug apparently thought that she was flirting, and came over and slapped her in the face,” he continued. “She slapped him back. My impression is that he had a lot to drink. She was sobbing [on the phone afterwards], but she wasn’t slurring her words. She told me that she broke up with him that night.”

Jane reportedly told a second friend, who is also a lawyer in New York, about the attack around the time that it happened.

“They had dinner. She said Doug was very charming, and it was lovely. Then I believe it was between 2-3am, it was still raging, but she was wearing four-inch heels and a floor-length gown, so it was time to depart,” the lawyer said. “She said there’d been no fight before he hit her. You would have thought it was this fairytale trip.”

“She put her hand on the valet’s shoulder, and as she was talking to him, Doug comes up,” she continued. “She said he turned her around by her right shoulder, and she was completely caught off guard. He hauled up and slapped her so hard she spun around. She said she was in utter shock.”

The second friend said that Jane had slapped him back and that she had tried to get out of there by herself but that Emhoff had forced his way into the taxi.

“She couldn’t believe he is the person that he is, and that it turned into this trailer trash moment,” the second friend said. “It woke her up about the self-delusion she was having, explaining away the teacher story. She realized he was bad news. This was the first time she saw his ugly side.”

“She said she called [her male businessman friend] because she wanted Doug to see her on the phone, telling somebody,” the second friend said. “She felt that would afford her some protection.”

A third friend, a female executive, said that Jane told her about the story in 2018.

“I don’t know if it was an aggressive slap or a punch, but it was something that I know she would never forget, and something that would end a relationship immediately,” the third friend said. “She had never been hit in her life. [Jane] is a gorgeous, strong woman and you would never expect somebody to hit her.”

“I asked her if he ever apologized. She said no, but he commented about the hit she gave him. It was a tennis metaphor. But no apology at all,” she continued. “He was a tennis fan. All he said to her was, ‘Don’t worry about it, you got one across the court and down the line.’”

The female executive told the publication that she and Jane were both Democrats, and she felt that the public needed to know about Emhoff, given the possibility that his wife could end up becoming president.

“He’s holding himself out to be something he absolutely is not. And that’s bulls***,” she said. “[Jane] was always leaning Democratic. I have always voted Democratic. If anything I would like to tell a story on the other side. But this is the truth.”

“He’s a really bad guy,” she added. “To hold him out as a supporter of women is just disgusting.”

Neither Emhoff nor Jane responded to requests for comment.