What Hunter Biden's Exes Have Said About Him
This article includes mentions of addiction.
Hunter Biden is providing plenty of ammo for the Republicans to fire at his father, Joe Biden, as he seeks a second term. Hunter's scandalous relationship history and past drug use loomed large during his federal gun trial, which resulted in a guilty verdict on June 11. Several of Hunter's exes took the stand, and they delved deep into his substance abuse disorder and serial cheating.
In his 2021 memoir "Beautiful Things," Hunter claimed things ended between himself and his first wife, Kathleen Buhle, the day his brother Beau Biden died of a brain tumor in May 2015. The couple attempted to struggle through, but Kathleen filed for divorce in 2017. Shortly after, news broke Hunter was having an affair with his dead brother's widow, Hallie Biden. "We became a tabloid drama narrated by the likes of the Post, TMZ, and the Daily Mail," Hunter wrote. "Paparazzi tailed us non-stop."
Given his infidelity issues, it's little surprise that Hunter's name cropped up in the Ashley Madison scandal in August 2015. The online dating site for married people looking to have affairs was hacked, and over 32 million users' personal information was leaked in a data breach, including Hunter's. He denied ever joining the site. "I am certain that the account in question is not mine," Hunter told Breitbart News. "This account was clearly set up by someone else without my knowledge." Either way, he has plenty of affairs to his name. Here's what Hunter's exes have said about him.
Kathleen Buhle accused Hunter of gaslighting and being a serial cheater
Hunter Biden and Kathleen Buhle were married from 1993 until 2017 and share daughters Naomi, Finnegan, and Maisy Biden. Hunter and Buhle went through a bitter divorce, which she wrote about in her memoir, "If We Break" (via Vanity Fair). Buhle said she first noticed Hunter's drinking was out of control in 2001. "Watching how much he could consume scared me ... For the first time, I didn't trust my husband," she wrote. Buhle said Hunter entered rehab in 2003 and was clean for seven years, then relapsed and began gaslighting her if she questioned him about drinking again.
Buhle also documented Hunter's serial cheating, which, she claimed, started way before his affair with his dead brother's widow. Buhle claimed she found photos of semi-clad women on his iPad, leading to Hunter confessing he'd cheated five times with sex workers, but only when he was drinking.
Buhle took the stand during Hunter's federal gun trial and gave a heartbreaking account of how their marriage imploded as Hunter spiraled further into addiction. She recalled discovering a crack cocaine pipe in an ashtray at home. "I was worried, scared," she testified (via the New York Post). "He was not himself. He was angry, short-tempered, acting in ways he hadn't when he was sober." She said he was highly functioning while using and that many didn't notice he was high. Still, the angry outbursts, substance abuse, and cheating eventually became too much for her.
Hallie Biden claimed Hunter introduced her to crack cocaine
Hunter Biden's affair with his brother Beau Biden's widow, Hallie Biden, contributed to the end of his first marriage and, ultimately, resulted in his conviction on three felony gun charges. Their relationship started after they grew closer following Beau's tragic death from brain cancer in 2005. Hallie took to the stand during Hunter's trial and claimed his crack cocaine use had led to her smoking the drug. She said things quickly grew toxic, and they regularly fought, broke up, made up again, and struggled with the effects of their drug use.
Hallie said she got sober in August 2018 but suspected Hunter was still using, so in October, she searched his truck and discovered drug remnants and paraphernalia — and a newly purchased Colt Cobra .38 handgun. Hallie said she freaked out and disposed of the weapon in a trash can, sparking an angry exchange of text messages between the two and ultimately resulting in Hunter's arrest.
Hallie testified that Hunter was highly functioning while taking crack but was often "agitated or high-strung." She admitted their relationship was "complicated" and an emotional roller coaster; she'd often not hear from Hunter for weeks and suspected he was seeing other women. She also worried he might take his own life. "It was a terrible experience that I went through," Hallie admitted (via the Washington Post). "I'm embarrassed and ashamed, and I regret that part of my life."
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Zoe Kestan said Hunter desperately wanted to get sober
Zoe Kestan provided some damning testimony for the prosecution in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial. Kestan claimed they met in December 2017 at a Manhattan gentlemen's club where she worked. She admitted their time together was tumultuous, mainly due to Biden's heavy use of crack cocaine, and they conducted their affair in varying hotel rooms and Airbnbs. Kestan, 24 when she began sleeping with 48-year-old Biden, claimed they spent five days together hunkered down at the Soho Grand. During that time, Biden smoked crack "every 20 minutes or so," and she remembered meeting a dealer at the Four Seasons from whom he purchased a "ping-pong ball"-size amount of crack cocaine.
Kestan also testified that Biden was a highly functioning addict. "I thought to myself, 'It's crazy his demeanor doesn't seem to be changing,'" she said (via the New York Post). "I never saw an immediate change in his behavior, which really confused me."
The couple's affair lasted nine months, during which time Biden regularly spoke about his desire to get sober. Kestan claimed Biden even underwent ketamine therapy in November 2018, but it didn't work, and he still wanted crack. She recalled a text he sent her after they split up. "I'm sitting here on a f***ing island by myself trying to beat the devil out of me ... I will always be an addict," it read in part.
Lunden Alexis Roberts called Hunter kind and intense
Few have heard of Hunter Biden's ex-girlfriend, Lunden Alexis Roberts, the mother of his daughter, Navy Joan Roberts, born in August 2018. But that's about to change as Roberts is publishing a tell-all about her "tumultuous time" with Hunter, "Out of the Shadows: My Life Inside the Wild World of Hunter Biden."
"He was sitting there wearing nothing but parrot boxer briefs, organizing his pipes on his Rosemont Seneca desk. I was sitting in Barack Obama's actual chair from the Senate floor. I took another look at Hunter — this kind, intense, and startlingly transparent man — and thought, 'this is definitely a guy I want to get to know better,'" an excerpt reads.
Hunter refused to acknowledge he was the father, but a DNA test proved otherwise. Roberts sued Hunter for paternal support, which was resolved in 2023. "Our son Hunter and Navy's mother, Lunden, are working together to foster a relationship that is in the best interests of their daughter," Joe Biden told People in July 2023. "Navy is so easy to love. She is absolutely brilliant," Roberts told "Inside Edition" in June 2024. "As much as I'd like to take credit for all of that, I can't. You know she does get some of that brilliance from him, and a lot of it, there are so many traits that she carries of his. The one thing that I pray for, is the one trait that she doesn't get, is the addiction."
If you or anyone you know needs help with addiction issues, help is available. Visit the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration website or contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).