Melissa Cohen Biden Explained

Melissa Cohen Biden
Birth Name:Melissa Batya Cohen
Birth Date: (age 37–38)
Birth Place:Johannesburg, South Africa
Children:1
Family:Biden (by marriage)
Education:Greenside Design Center College of Design
University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation:Activist, filmmaker

Melissa Batya Cohen Biden (Cohen; born)[1] is a South African‐American activist and documentary filmmaker. She is married to Hunter Biden, a son of U.S. President Joe Biden.

Early life and education

Melissa Cohen was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. She lived in an orphanage and was three years old when adopted by Lee and Zoe Cohen, a South African Jewish couple with three sons.[2] [3] She attended King David High School Victory Park, a Jewish day school, before studying interior design at Greenside Design Center College of Design in South Africa.[4] [5] She moved to Los Angeles when she was 21 years old to attend the University of California, Los Angeles.

Later life

While in Los Angeles, she met American businessman Jason Lavender. They married in 2011 and separated in 2014.[6] Cohen was an advocate for environmental and nature conservation groups.[4]

After her divorce, Cohen launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a documentary about tribal communities.[7]

In 2019, she met Hunter Biden, son of then-former U.S. Vice President and presidential candidate Joe Biden, through friends. She helped Hunter Biden seek treatment for substance use disorder.[8] They have matching "Shalom" tattoos on their left biceps. On May 16, 2019, six days after meeting, they married in a ceremony at her apartment in the Hollywood Hills.[9] [10] [11] In 2019, she became a naturalized citizen of the United States.[1]

Their son, Beau, was born in March 2020 in Los Angeles.[12] [13] She is the step-mother to Biden's three adult daughters—Naomi, Finnegan and Maisey—with his first wife and to the daughter, Navy Joan Roberts, he had in 2018 with Lunden Roberts.[14]

She attended the inauguration of Joe Biden in 2021.[13]

She and her family live in Malibu, California.[15]

In June 2024, she accompanied her husband to his trial on federal gun charges, where he was found guilty on all 3 counts in Wilmington, Delaware. During a break in the trial on June 4, she confronted Garrett Ziegler, a former aide to President Donald Trump, outside the courtroom. Cohen approached Ziegler, pointed her finger at him and said in a loud voice, "You have no right to be here, you Nazi piece of shit." Her husband had filed a lawsuit against Ziegler, who has been compiling a searchable database of emails discovered on Hunter Biden's laptop, in September 2023.[16] [17]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Exclusive: Hunter Biden talks getting married after 6 days and why his life is in 'the best place I've ever been'. ABC News . 27 November 2022.
  2. Web site: What Hunter Biden's memoir tells us about Melissa Cohen, his Jewish wife. 7 April 2021 . The Forward . 27 November 2022.
  3. Web site: Biden's daughter-in-law in SA for mom's funeral. Nicola. Miltz. 3 June 2021. Jewish Report. 27 November 2022.
  4. News: Joe Biden's very Jewish family . 9 November 2020 . Keren David . The Jewish Chronicle.
  5. Web site: Meet Joe Biden's South African daughter-in-law . 2023-08-08 . News24 . en-US.
  6. Web site: Who Is Melissa Cohen? Filmmaker And Hunter Biden's Wife. 27 November 2022.
  7. Web site: Who Is Hunter Biden's Wife, Melissa Cohen? . Stephanie . Kaloi . 13 February 2021 . The List. 27 November 2022.
  8. Web site: 2021-03-31 . Hunter Biden details lifelong addiction struggle in memoir . 2024-06-05 . AP News . en.
  9. Web site: Hunter Biden Just Married His Girlfriend of One Month . W Magazine . 12 June 2019 . 27 November 2022.
  10. News: Meredith . Newman . July 1, 2019 . Hunter Biden talks about his addiction, 'I was in that darkness' . . Wilmington, Delaware . October 6, 2019 . July 3, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190703021818/https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/2019/07/01/hunter-biden-talks-his-addiction-i-darkness/1615964001/ . live.
  11. News: Heil . Emily . Hunter Biden's messy personal life is back in the news. Will it cause political headaches for his dad? . The Washington Post . June 12, 2019 . June 13, 2019 . June 13, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190613011426/https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2019/06/12/hunter-biden-married-los-angeles-woman-after-split-with-his-brothers-widow/?noredirect=on . live.
  12. Carlson. Adam . Joe Biden's Son Hunter & His Wife Welcome a Son Less Than a Year After Whirlwind Wedding: Report. April 1, 2020. People . April 30, 2020. April 11, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200411051335/https://people.com/parents/hunter-biden-wife-melissa-gives-birth-son-report/. live.
  13. Web site: Joe Biden and baby grandson share precious moment at inauguration — and his name is Beau . Stump . Scott . January 21, 2021. Today. January 21, 2021. January 21, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210121143428/https://www.today.com/parents/joe-biden-s-baby-grandson-beau-was-adorable-inauguration-t206415. live.
  14. Web site: Hunter Biden's 5 Children: Everything to Know . 2024-06-05 . Peoplemag . en.
  15. Web site: Hunter Biden makes rare public outing amid investigation. Timothy. Nerozzi. 23 July 2022. Fox News. 27 November 2022.
  16. Web site: 2024-06-04 . 'You Nazi piece of s---': Hunter Biden's wife confronts Trump ally in hallway outside gun trial . 2024-06-05 . NBC News . en.
  17. Web site: Morris . Kyle . 2024-06-04 . Hunter Biden's wife lashes out at former Trump aide during court appearance: 'Piece of s---' . 2024-06-05 . Fox News . en-US.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Melissa Cohen Biden".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.