Kerstin Emhoff says she wants to be known as more than just the ‘famous ex-wife’: ‘I’m accomplished in my own right’
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Kerstin Emhoff has opened up about her occasional frustration at being known by many only as Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff’s ex-wife, despite having a successful career of her own.
The film producer and founder and CEO of production company Prettybird addressed her desire to be recognised as more than just “the famous ex-wife” of Vice President Kamala Harris’s husband during an interview with Politico, where she joked about her accomplishments being turned into listicles about the current administration.
“I went from building a company from scratch and just trying to get attention to my company, my partners, my directors, the work that we’re doing non-stop to you Google me and it’s like crazy websites of ‘Five things you don’t know about Doug Emhoff’s ex-wife’ or Kamala Harris’s Husband’s ex-wife,’” Emhoff told the outlet while laughing. “I don’t want to just be the famous ex-wife. I am accomplished in my own right.”
Ms Emhoff, whose resume includes productions such as the music video for the Nine Inch Nails song Closer and Beyonce’s Formation, according to Politico, also worked on the HBO documentary about the Osama Bin Laden manhunt and “on a potential upcoming documentary on flipping Georgia blue”.
As for whether she ever imagined she’d be in the political spotlight, the 54-year-old, who shares daughter Ella, 22, and son Cole, 26, with the country’s first second gentleman, revealed that if anyone was interested in politics during her marriage to Mr Emhoff, it was her - but that she never “wanted to be in politics”.
“Doug was never really political, the kids aren’t political,” she said. “I never wanted to be in politics but I’d have CNN running 24/7 in the house.”
Despite not having an interest in politics, the movie producer, who divorced from Mr Emhoff in 2008, was an outspoken supporter of President Biden and Vice President Harris during the election.
Ms Emhoff also remains close with her ex-husband and the vice president, with their blended family becoming the subject of praise on Inauguration Day after she proudly attended the ceremony alongside her and Mr Emhoff’s children.
The vice president previously opened up about the positive relationship she has with the mother of her stepchildren in a 2019 essay for Elle, in which she described Ms Emhoff as an “incredible mother” and a “dear friend”.
“We sometimes joke that our modern family is almost a little too functional,” she wrote at the time.
While Ms Emhoff has a friendly, and functional, relationship with the couple, she told Politico that there is one activity they all have not been able to enjoy together since Ms Harris took office, as it likely wouldn’t go over well with her Secret Service.
“When she was [California attorney general] and senator, I’d meet them at the SoulCycle by their house, and we’d take a class together,” she said, adding: “There’s just no chance of doing that now… we’ve talked about that but I think it would torture Secret Service.”
However, while her ex-husband’s life may be a matter of public interest, the mother-of-two still wishes to maintain a level of privacy, with Ms Emhoff declining to reveal whether she is dating anyone, as she doesn’t “need any people that are in my personal life getting any spotlight”.
“It’s already complicated enough,” she told the outlet.
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