Ruby Rippey, a former aide to Gavin Newsom, has publicly shared her full account of their affair more than two decades ago when Newsom was mayor of San Francisco. In an essay published in Vanity Fair on Tuesday, Rippey details her struggles with alcoholism and her relationship with Newsom while she worked as his appointments secretary and was married to his deputy chief of staff.
Rippey's Account Contradicts Newsom's Memoir
The essay offers the most detailed look yet at the relationship and is likely to rekindle interest in the scandal ahead of Newsom's expected 2028 presidential run. Rippey does not name Newsom but refers to him as her “boss” and the “mayor.” She writes, “For my former boss, it is a footnote in a longer arc of ascent. For me, it is the fracture that split my life into before and after.”
Newsom, who was single at the time, acknowledged the affair in 2007, telling reporters, “Everything you’ve heard and read is true.” In his recent memoir, he describes it as “the briefest of affairs.” However, Rippey's account complicates that. She says Newsom writes that he “came clean” to her husband, Alex Tourk, but she claims she had already told Tourk herself. Rippey writes, “Technically defensible, perhaps, but one that leaves the unmistakable impression that he, not I, was the one who told Alex the truth.”
Details of the Affair and Its Aftermath
Rippey describes the early days of Newsom's administration, her marriage, pregnancy, alcohol struggles, and the extramarital affair. She eventually went to rehab and left her job. After the story became public, she faced intense media scrutiny. Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who began dating Newsom shortly after and married him, called Rippey the “culprit” in 2007, later apologizing. The governor's office and Siebel Newsom's spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
Rippey also recounts that Kamala Harris, then district attorney, advised her to pause before speaking publicly, saying it would give her “better perspective.” Rippey writes, “It turns out to be the best advice I receive. I am newly sober and still inside the wreckage – unable to make sense of anything, let alone speak clearly about it.”
Re-evaluating Power Dynamics
For years, Rippey said little. During the MeToo movement, she saw herself cast as a “powerless subordinate,” but she initially doubted that label. In 2018, she said she was a “free-thinking, 33-year-old, adult married woman and mother” who had a tendency toward drinking. Now, she acknowledges the role of power: “Both things are true. I am responsible for what I did. Power does not distribute consequences evenly.” Rippey is now 20 years sober, remarried, and has rebuilt her relationship with her ex-husband.
