Second gentleman Doug Emhoff—lauded by the mainstream media as a "wife guy" who "redefines masculinity"—hired a part-time model as his "trophy secretary," acted like an "asshole" and "misogynist," and "retaliated against" young female staffers who "didn't flirt back" with him while working at white-shoe law firm Venable, his former colleagues told the Daily Mail.
Emhoff's "young, attractive" assistant, identified as part-time model Katya Calderone, was known as an unqualified "trophy secretary" whom Emhoff hired because she was "pretty," the Mail reported. Calderone later left Venable, along with Emhoff, to join DLA Piper. She once posed as "Babe 4" for Manifest Collective, a fashion brand better known as MANCO.
Former colleagues described Emhoff as an "asshole" and "misogynist" who held male-only, in-office "cocktail parties" and acted "very flirty" toward young female staffers. Those who responded negatively were added to his "s—t list."
"There were deadlines that, if you were one of his favorite people, wouldn't apply," a former Venable lawyer told the Mail. "But if you weren't, they would."
In another incident described by his former colleagues, Emhoff "bragged" to "management" about how he cursed at a "female partner at the firm" who "slightly opened" the door to his office.
"He said 'get the f—k out of my office,'" according to a former senior Venable staffer. "What's worse was he bragged about it to management at Venable and they were aghast. He's an asshole. He told them how he 'put her in her place.' A misogynist, that's who does that."
Emhoff's allies in the media have portrayed the second gentleman as a "wife guy" and a "model of masculinity" since Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic presidential nominee. This summer, Emhoff admitted to cheating on his first wife with his daughter’s nanny after a Mail report revealed that he impregnated the woman.
Emhoff also reportedly hit his ex-girlfriend, a New York attorney, for "flirting with another man" while waiting in a valet line in 2012. Emhoff "slapped her so hard she spun around" and forced his way into a cab with her when she tried to leave without him, according to the alleged victim’s friends.