Weird Things About Hunter Biden And Melissa Cohen Biden's Marriage
Hunter Biden's scandalous relationship history is pretty well-documented, so it's not exactly surprising that his current marriage to Melissa Cohen has raised eyebrows, too. From a glaring age gap, to the speediness of their union (six days, people!), there are a whole bunch of signs this marriage might not last. Even so, at least at the time of his writing, the couple seems to be pretty committed to going the distance.
Let's start at the very beginning. Hunter met his now-wife not long after Page Six confirmed that he had split from his girlfriend, Hallie Biden (who had previously been married to his late brother, Beau Biden). As a general timeline, Page Six reported on the split on April 30, 2019 ... and per TMZ, he and Cohen wed on May 16. Don't worry, though, that doesn't mean there was any infidelity. For starters, it later emerged that Hunter and Hallie had parted ways earlier that year. That said, even if the breakup had been in April, as Beau himself admitted in an interview with ABC, he and Cohen met mere days before their wedding.
Deciding to be legally bound to someone you haven't even known for a full week is an, ahem, interesting choice, but as Hunter explained in his interview with the outlet, "I instantly fell in love with her. And I've fallen in love with her more every day." Love wins, we guess? However, this is just the start of what makes this union a strange one.
Hunter has made weird comments about age differences
At the time of their wedding (slash first meeting), Hunter Biden was 49 years old. Melissa Cohen, meanwhile, was 32 years old — meaning the two have a 16-year-plus age gap. Granted, many celeb (and even normie) relationships have big age gaps, and that doesn't automatically mean the relationship is doomed. However, what makes this particular instance feel a little uncomfortable is the fact that Hunter has previously made comments about wooing younger women, in general.
In February 2023, the New York Post published texts between Hunter and his cousin, Caroline Biden. The thread centered on Caroline setting him up with someone new after his split from Hallie Biden. In a bizarre twist, Nicola Peltz (who was not yet married to Brooklyn Beckham) was named as the first pick. One of the top reasons? Her age. In response to a text from Caroline noting that the actor was 24 at the time, Hunter responded with, "24 is great. Seriously. Its incredibly easy to impress a 24-year-old." It's giving ick. Granted, the same messages also saw him repeatedly ask to be introduced to someone kind, so there's that.
Of course, Cohen was nearly a decade older than Peltz when she wed Hunter. Even so, we're hoping he didn't have quite the same attitude about easily impressing her, simply because she was much younger than him.
Hunter and Melissa got married without their families
While we don't know if Hunter Biden found Melissa Cohen particularly easy to impress, the two were clearly smitten enough to get married immediately after their engagement. That's right — if getting engaged in under a week wasn't a bold move in itself, Hunter told The New Yorker they also wed within hours of Melissa saying yes. Doing so came with one caveat, though: their families weren't present. Granted, it doesn't seem either side took it personally.
In his interview with The New Yorker, Hunter shared that the wedding ceremony included just him, his bride, and an officiant. That meant neither his kids, nor his dad and stepmom were present. Even so, Hunter did confirm that he'd had a touching call with Joe Biden just after signing the papers. "I called my dad and said that we just got married. He was on speaker, and he said to her, 'Thank you for giving my son the courage to love again,'" he recounted.
As for Melissa's parents, her father, Lee Cohen told Page Six that he hadn't met his son-in-law. Given just how fast the relationship moved, that's not that surprising. Plus, the fact that Melissa is South African means there's a chance her parents weren't even in the same country as her at the time of the nuptials anyway. Nevertheless, Lee told the outlet that he was glad to see his daughter happy.
Weirdness aside, Hunter and Melissa are the real deal
Even with the strangeness of their hasty nuptials, it certainly seems as though Hunter Biden and Melissa Cohen are the real deal. Nowhere has that been more evident during Hunter's gun trial. Though Hunter was found guilty and stands the chance of a steep, 25-year sentence, Cohen has remained by his side.
Cohen was present throughout Hunter's trial, and it's safe to say their marriage withstood the heat (unlike, ahem, some other political families embroiled in scandal). Her poise throughout it all was also widely reported on — though that's not to say she tried to hide her true feelings. As was reported by the Los Angeles Times, she shook her head as the contents of her husband's infamous laptop were read out, and even cried when excerpts of the audiobook version of Hunter's memoir, "Beautiful Things" were played.
It's worth noting that in Cohen's very first interview, she shared that her relationship with Hunter had never suffered as a result of the controversy that surrounded him. Speaking to ABC in 2019, she admitted, "Things have not been easy externally ... but internally, things have been amazing. And it's only tested our bond." From the outside, it does sound weird that these two got hitched so fast, but given the tests they've overcome as a couple in the time since, it clearly worked out for them in the end.