How long were Katie Porter and Matthew Hoffman married? Ex-Congresswoman was once accused of dumping hot mashed potatoes on ex-husband's head

A clip of ex-Congresswoman Katie Porter threatening to storm out of an interview has been going viral. The interview with Julie Watts of CBS News California Investigates was conducted in September. Katie, who once was accused of dumping hot mashed potatoes on her then-husband's head, is considered as the California gubernatorial candidate.

For the unversed, at the time of the incident Katie Porter was married to Matthew Hoffman. In 2023, the divorce documents resurfaced on The Daily Mail. Hoffman claimed that the incident of pouring mashed potatoes on his head happened in 2006, after Porter didn't like the way he prepared the dish. 

Hoffman said that Porter picked up a "ceramic bowl of steaming hot potatoes and dumped it on my head, burning my scalp." For context, Katie Porter and Matthew Hoffman tied the knot in the year 2003 and got divorced in 2013, after 10 years of married life. As far as the latest interview is concerned, Watts asked Katie,

"What do you say to the 40% of California voters, who you’ll need in order to win, who voted for Trump?"

After a brief back-and-forth while answering, Katie seemingly snapped at Watts and said,

"I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative. What is your question?"

This prompted Julie Watts to state that this question has been asked to other candidates as well and they answered too. Watts further insisted that this was not "argumentative." When Watts repeated her question, Katie Porter started removing her microphone while saying that she didn't want to continue the interview.

Exploring more about messy marriage of Katie Porter and former husband Matthew Hoffman

Katie Porter's allegedly abusive marriage resurfaced on mainstream media back in April 2023, when she published her memoir I Swear: Politics Is Messier Than My Minivan. According to The Daily Mail, Katie and Matthew filed for divorce in March 2013 but decided to live together in the same house for their three kids.

The outlet added that at the time, both of them filed restraining order against one other and accused each other of abuse. Hoffman claimed that Katie Porter had records of yelling at him and even the kids. Hoffman made some severe allegations against the former Congresswoman.

According to Hoffman, Katie would often verbally abuse him by calling him a "f***ing idiot!" and "incompetent." Hoffman reportedly added,

"She would not let me have a cell phone because she said, 'you're too f*cking dumb to operate it'."

The Daily Mail cited another incident mentioned by Hoffman about Katie. He claimed that at one point of time in 2012, she was unhappy about the cleanliness in the house and ended up slamming a glass coffee pot on the counter. According to Matthew Hoffman, Katie then verbally abused him while the children were in the living room.

Meanwhile, in the divorce records, Katie Porter claimed that their marriage was "troubled" from about four years before the divorce happened. She also claimed that Hoffman had not acted aggressively except for one instance when he punched a wall. She even claimed that the former couple had taken anger management classes in the year 2009. 

The recent incident during the CBS News interview made many netizens recall the allegations about the mashed potatoes incident. Many questioned her way of handling situations as well as her temperament. 

Katie Porter, a member of the Democratic Party, has previously been the US representative from California from 2019 to 2025.