Ruby Rippey-Tourk, a former aide to then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, has detailed past comments made by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who is now the governor's wife, regarding their 2005 affair. In a recent essay, Rippey-Tourk recounted that Siebel Newsom, then dating the mayor, initially blamed her, Rippey-Tourk, for the extramarital relationship.
After the affair became public in 2007, Siebel Newsom stated to the San Francisco Chronicle, "I shouldn’t say this, but…if people did research into the scandal…the woman is the culprit." Rippey-Tourk, who was married to Newsom’s friend and campaign manager Alex Tourk at the time, struggled with alcohol and cocaine abuse during the affair, as she recounted in her essay. She later entered rehab for her substance abuse issues, and the affair concluded.
Siebel Newsom, then a Hollywood actress, also left comments on the local news site SFist, identifying herself as a "girl's girl." In those comments, she referred to Rippey-Tourk as "bad news" and appeared to minimize the mayor's role in the affair, suggesting Newsom was vulnerable and lonely due to personal crises including his divorce from Kimberly Guilfoyle and the loss of his mother. Siebel Newsom later apologized for these remarks.
Rippey-Tourk's essay discusses the complicated feelings surrounding the public chastisement, particularly in light of the #MeToo movement. She acknowledged her own responsibility in the affair but also highlighted the power dynamic, writing, "Power does not need to coerce. It only needs to exist." She noted that while she "saw a possibility and went for it," the responsibility to maintain boundaries was not upheld by Newsom.
The affair began in 2005 when Newsom was separated from his then-wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Rippey-Tourk was married to Alex Tourk. Newsom, in his memoir "Young Man in a Hurry," described the affair as "the stupidest and briefest of affairs."
Rippey-Tourk also mentioned reaching out to then-San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, who she described as a "real girl's girl." Harris reportedly advised her to "Just pause. More time will give you better perspective," advice Rippey-Tourk found wise in retrospect.