Montel Williams, 68, is calling out trolls claiming damaging footage about his ex, Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris will hit the internet soon.
Vice President Harris, 60, is in a tight race for the White House against her Republican opponent and former president Donald Trump and election day is less than one week away on Tuesday, Nov. 5.
In the midst of rallies and debates, Donald Trump supporter Matt Wallace, who has 2.2 million followers on X, has come forth with a baseless rumor claiming a sex tape featuring Williams and Harris would upend the 2024 election.
“Wow, I was just informed by my friend, who is the CEO of a large tech company, that there is allegedly a sex tape being shopped around involving Kamala Harris and Montel Williams,” Wallace posted on Oct. 28.
The YouTuber’s tweet has collected over 6.9 million views on the social media platform. As those allegations spread across X, Williams addressed the speculation with a tweet on Oct. 30.
“Wow, I hear a blogger I’ve never heard of got millions of views claiming someone is ‘shopping’ a sex tape of me that will ‘break the internet,’” Williams tweeted.
The former television talk show host continued, “Let’s ‘break the internet’ [with] truth – there is no tape. @KamalaHQ’s surge clearly has some people worried.”
Social media users began blasting Wallace after Williams’ denial. Many people took offense to the apparent falsehood being used to potentially hurt Harris’ campaign days before she could make history as the first female president of the United States
“Knew he was lying when he said he had a friend,” one person tweeted. Another X user stated, “They’re desperate. We knew it was fake news. Who has a VHS player these days anyway?!?”
A third person referred to Trump’s various criminal charges and civil lawsuits by writing, “These vile scumbags will stop at nothing to try to get a sexual predator conman criminal back in office.”
Others suggested Williams should sue Wallace for defamation of character, writing, “That Matt guy better get ready for a lawsuit.”
X, the platform owned by Elon Musk, issued a Community Note to Wallace’s original tweet about the alleged sex tape, confirming Williams denied the allegations.
Wallace also provided a follow-up tweet that read, “Montel Williams just posted saying that the allegations are false and that no sex tape of them exists.”
Despite the clarification, Wallace’s attempt to slander Harris fed into a salacious, years-long narrative being pushed by far-right influencers that the vice president used sexual favors to climb the ranks in politics.
For example, a 2001-dated clip of Harris and Williams went viral in 2019 as Harris was running for the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential nomination.
Harris, Williams, and his daughter, Ashley Williams, attended the Eighth Annual Race to Erase MS event together in Los Angeles.
Conservatives accused Harris of being Williams’ “side piece” under the assumption that Ashley was Montel’s wife. In response, the retired military service member admitted to once dating the former U.S. Senator from California.
“[Kamala Harris] and I briefly dated about 20 years ago when we were both single. So what? I have great respect for Sen. Harris. I have to wonder if the same stories about her dating history would have been written if she were a male candidate?” Montel posted in August 2019.
There have also been rumors that Harris secured her position as the elected District Attorney of San Francisco in 2003 by having an affair with Willie Brown, the mayor of San Francisco from 1996 to 2004.
Like Williams, Willie Brown admitted to dating Kamala Harris in a 2019 column for the “San Francisco Chronicle.” Brown and Harris were both single at the time when they dated in the 1990s before splitting in 1995.
In recent weeks, controversial wrestler Hulk Hogan has made several ill remarks about Harris including threatening to body slam her. Most recently, he insinuated Harris slept her way to success during his speech at Trump’s Oct. 27 rally.
“When I hear Kamala speak, it sounds like a script from Hollywood with a really, really [makes spitting sound] bad actress,” Hogan told the crowd at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.
Many viewers inferred the WWE Hall of Famer was alluding to Hailey “Hawk Tuah Girl” Welch, the woman who became an internet sensation after offering oral sex advice in an interview.
Despite the unverified assumptions about her past, Harris is currently married to intellectual property lawyer Doug Emhoff. The two tied the knot on Aug. 22, 2014, in Santa Barbara, California. They met on a blind date in 2013.
They have no children together. However, Emhoff has two children — 30-year-old Cole and 25-year-old Ella == from his first marriage to film producer Kerstin Mackin, which ended in 2008.
