{"id":5663,"date":"2026-07-29T17:39:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5663"},"modified":"2026-07-29T17:39:03","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T17:39:03","slug":"ruby-rippey-breaks-cover-after-salacious-essay-exposed-gavin-newsom-affair-details","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5663","title":{"rendered":"Ruby Rippey breaks cover after salacious essay exposed Gavin Newsom affair details"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Ruby Rippey, the former lover of Gov. Gavin Newsom who reignited one of California\u2019s biggest political scandals with a bombshell Vanity Fair<\/em> essay Tuesday, was spotted walking her dog just hours after the story went viral.<\/p>\n

Read more Exclusive | Tony Romo had open bottle of alcohol in car during OWI arrest: cops<\/a><\/p>\n

Dressed casually, Rippey appeared carefree and relaxed as she enjoyed a sunny afternoon near her Marin County home following publication of the essay, which thrust her decades-old affair with Newsom back into the national spotlight.<\/p>\n

Rippey served as an aide to Newsom when he was mayor of San Francisco and was married at the time to his campaign manager and close friend, Alex Tourk.<\/p>\n

In the essay, Rippey accuses Newsom of sanitizing one of the defining scandals of his political career, arguing the governor reshaped key details of their affair in his memoir, \u201cYoung Man in a Hurry,\u201d which was released as the governor is widely expected to mount a 2028 presidential campaign.<\/p>\n

Newsom described the relationship as \u201cthe stupidest and also briefest of affairs,\u201d writing that Rippey \u201cwas among a group of staffers who came to my apartment for a party. She was the last to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Rippey said reading the memoir left her with \u201ca familiar feeling \u2026 of being written about by someone who assumes I won\u2019t answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe describes it as \u2018the briefest of affairs.\u2019 His sister, he notes, observed that I was \u2018hanging a bit too close,’\u201d Rippey wrote.<\/p>\n

Instead, the affair appears to have lasted for some time and sexual encounters occurred in multiple places and overnight stays.<\/p>\n

She also disputed Newsom\u2019s account of how her husband learned about the affair, challenging his suggestion that he was the one who came clean to Tourk.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat detail \u2014 subtle but significant \u2014 is the one that stays with me,\u201d Rippey wrote. \u201cIt reads \u2014 to me, at least \u2014 as a version of events that gives him credit for something I had already done. Technically defensible, perhaps, but one that leaves the unmistakable impression that he, not I, was the one who told Alex the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newsom\u2019s office declined comment on the essay.<\/p>\n

The affair remains one of the biggest stains of Newsom\u2019s life and political career. Tourk resigned after confronting the mayor, who later held a news conference calling the affair a \u201cpersonal lapse of judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make it clear that everything you\u2019ve heard and read is true, and I am deeply sorry about that,\u201d Newsom said at the time.<\/p>\n

Rippey\u2019s essay also renewed scrutiny of comments made by Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who was dating the future governor when the affair became public and publicly placed much of the blame on Rippey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI shouldn\u2019t say this, but \u2026 if people did research into the scandal \u2026 the woman is the culprit,\u201d Siebel Newsom told the San Francisco Chronicle.<\/p>\n

Read more GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno goes off on Fauci: \u2018Who the f\u2013k do you think you were?\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Siebel Newsom later doubled down in comments on the SFist blog despite describing herself as \u201ca total woman\u2019s woman.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a total woman\u2019s woman, girls girl \u2026 what\u2019s your definition of affair? \u2026 It was a few nothing incidents when she showed up passed out outside of his door \u2026 she is bad news,\u201d Siebel Newsom wrote.<\/p>\n

She also defended Newsom, saying he was dealing with \u201ccrises \u2014 divorce, the loss of his mother, the pressures of being mayor, etc. and he was vulnerable and lonely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Siebel Newsom later apologized after the comments sparked backlash.<\/p>\n

Sam Singer, a spokesman for Rippey at the time, bashed Siebel Newsom for her comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Siebel is an actress. I understand her need for publicity. However, her comments are unbecoming of an actress or a lady,\u201d Singer said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Rippey, who has since remarried and says she has remained sober for years, wrote that the affair began in 2005 while Newsom was separated from his then-wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Rippey was married to Tourk. <\/p>\n

She acknowledged she willingly entered the relationship but said she now recognizes the power imbalance between a mayor and one of his subordinates.<\/p>\n

\u201cStill, the [#MeToo] reckoning exposed what I had missed: Power does not need to coerce. It only needs to exist,\u201d Rippey wrote. \u201cThe responsibility to hold the line belongs to the one who holds it. That didn\u2019t happen. But I didn\u2019t stumble into the space left open \u2014 I saw a possibility and went for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added, \u201cBoth things are true: I am responsible for what I did. Power does not distribute consequences evenly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rippey also revealed that Kamala Harris, who at that time was San Francisco\u2019s district attorney and still years away from becoming vice president, privately reached out after the scandal broke and urged her to stay silent.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Just pause,\u201d Harris told Rippey, according to the essay. \u201cMore time will give you better perspective.’\u201d<\/p>\n

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Read more Jared Leto speaks out on sexual assault, sex with a minor accusations after multiple women come forward<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gavin Newsom ex-lover Ruby Rippey smiled as she walked her dog near her Bay Area home. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5662,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nRuby Rippey breaks cover after salacious essay exposed Gavin Newsom affair details - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5663\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ruby Rippey breaks cover after salacious essay exposed Gavin Newsom affair details - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gavin Newsom ex-lover Ruby Rippey smiled as she walked her dog near her Bay Area home.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5663\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-29T17:39:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5663#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5663\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Ruby Rippey breaks cover after salacious essay exposed Gavin Newsom affair details\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-29T17:39:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5663\"},\"wordCount\":906,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5663#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e64823c76088785be575287333c5040f.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5663#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5663\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=5663\",\"name\":\"Ruby Rippey breaks cover after salacious essay exposed Gavin Newsom affair details - 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