The recent publication of a first-person essay by Ruby Rippey in Vanity Fair, detailing her past affair with California Governor Gavin Newsom, has sparked renewed discussion about the decades-old scandal. The essay offers Rippey’s most personal account of the relationship and its lasting consequences, drawing attention as Newsom is widely considered a potential contender for the 2028 presidential race.
Contrary to some online claims, the affair was not first revealed by Rippey in 2026. Newsom himself publicly acknowledged the relationship in 2007, stating at the time that “everything you’ve heard and read is true.” Rippey had also spoken about the affair in previous years, including in 2018. While her Vanity Fair essay provides a comprehensive, first-person narrative, it does not represent the initial disclosure of the affair.
In her essay, Rippey recounts the early days of Newsom’s tenure as San Francisco Mayor, her marriage, pregnancy, struggles with addiction, and the affair with Newsom. She subsequently entered a rehabilitation program and resigned from her position in the mayor’s office. Following the public revelation of the affair in 2007, Rippey faced intense media attention.
At the time, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who later began dating Gavin Newsom and is now California’s first partner, referred to Rippey as the “culprit” in comments to reporters. Siebel Newsom later issued an apology for these remarks. Attempts to reach the governor’s office and a spokesperson for Jennifer Siebel Newsom for comment were not immediately successful.
Newsom’s recent memoir and Rippey’s essay present differing perspectives on the affair’s confession. Newsom states in his memoir that he informed Alex Tourk, his top aide and Rippey’s husband at the time, about the affair. Rippey, however, disputes this in her essay, suggesting that Newsom’s account overstates his role in the disclosure. She contends that while his version might be technically accurate, it implies he was the first to inform Tourk, when she asserts she had already taken that step.
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