Melissa Cohen Biden | |
---|---|
Born | Melissa Batya Cohen c. 1986 (age 36–37) Johannesburg, South Africa |
Education | Greenside Design Center College of Design University of California, Los Angeles |
Occupation(s) | Activist, filmmaker |
Spouse |
Jason Lavender
(m. 2011; div. 2014) |
Children | 1 |
Family | Biden (by marriage) |
Melissa Batya Cohen Biden (born c. 1986)[1] is a South African‐American activist and documentary filmmaker. She is the wife of Hunter Biden, a son of U.S. President Joe Biden.
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.
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. She helped Hunter Biden in seeking treatment for substance abuse.[8] On May 16, 2019, six days after meeting, they married in a ceremony held at her apartment in 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 attended the Inauguration of Joe Biden in 2021.[13]
She and her family live in Malibu, California.[14]