2024-08-21 16:25:02
On Thursday, Doug Emhoff and Kamala Harris will celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary. In the last decade, Doug has supported Kamala’s political rise—and the vice president has joined him and his ex-wife, Kerstin Emhoff, in their coparenting of kids Cole Emhoff and Ella Emhoff.
Kerstin, Doug, and Kamala seemingly have a good relationship; in fact, that Kerstin has been present for many of Kamala’s major moments—including attending the 2021 Inauguration, and the Democratic National Convention this week.
After Republicans attacked Kamala for the fact she did not have biological children, Kerstin said in a statement to CNN, “These are baseless attacks. For over 10 years, since Cole and Ella were teenagers, Kamala has been a co-parent with Doug and I. She is loving, nurturing, fiercely protective, and always present. I love our blended family and am grateful to have her in it.”
Here, get to know Doug’s ex, Kerstin Emhoff:
She’s from Minnesota.
Kerstin grew up in Minnesota, the daughter of Kathleen Davies and James Mackin. She has two brothers, Seth Mackin and Kyle Mackin.
She attended Boston University, graduating from the College of Communication in 1990, before moving to Los Angeles to work in the film industry.
Kerstin and Doug divorced in 2010.
They married in 1992, and divorced 18 years later. “I would have never thought that I would have married a lawyer,” she told Politico in June 2021. “I was a film student and I grew up in a performing arts school, but you know I like really smart people, and he’s incredibly smart and we connected very quickly.”
They share two children, Cole Emhoff (b. 1994) and Ella Emhoff (b. 1999), and by all accounts, Kerstin and Doug remain close friends.
She is a film producer.
In 2007, she started her own production company, Prettybird. She also launched Ventureland, a “creative studio and idea accelerator that develops entertainment properties, advertising campaigns, and original IP alongside filmmakers, studios, and brands.”
In an interview, she said, “People will call us and say, ‘Hey, could you guys do this?’ And of course, we always say yes. Even if we don’t 100 percent know what to do—we do it. We want everyone to ask, ‘What would Prettybird do?’”
In 2012, she won a News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Informational Programming – Long Form for The Tillman Story. Additionally, Prettybird has won numerous accolades including at Cannes Lions, MTV’s Video of the Year, and the Grammys.
Kerstin and Kamala appear to be good friends.
In her memoir, The Truths We Hold, Kamala writes, “I had—and have—tremendous admiration and respect for Kerstin. I could tell from the way Doug talked about his kids that she was a terrific mother—and in later months, as Kerstin and I got to know each other, we really hit it off ourselves and became friends. (We sometimes joke that our modern family is almost a little too functional.)”
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, culture, the royals, and a range of other subjects. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
