Ruby Rippey Reveals Untold Story Behind Gavin Newsom Affair

Nearly two decades after one of California’s most closely watched political scandals threatened to derail Gavin Newsom’s career, the woman at the centre of the controversy has come forward with her own account. Ruby Rippey, a former San Francisco City Hall aide whose affair with the then mayor became public in 2007, has broken years of silence in a deeply personal essay published by Vanity Fair. Rather than introducing new legal claims, Rippey reflects on the relationship through the lens of addiction, personal responsibility, shame and recovery, while also revisiting questions about workplace power dynamics that continue to resonate today. Her account has renewed attention on an episode that once dominated California politics and remains one of the defining controversies of Newsom’s public life.

The timing of Rippey’s essay has added another layer of public interest. Gavin Newsom is now serving his second term as California governor and is widely regarded as one of the Democratic Party’s most recognisable figures, with continued speculation surrounding a possible presidential campaign in 2028. Against that backdrop, Rippey’s reflections revisit a chapter many believed had long been settled. She describes the affair not as a love story but as a period shaped by emotional vulnerability, alcohol addiction and the intoxicating appeal of being close to political power. Her essay also challenges aspects of Newsom’s own memoir while revealing private conversations and memories that had never previously been shared publicly.

Ruby Rippey Revisits a Scandal That Changed Her Life

Rippey begins her essay by looking back to 2003, when she joined Gavin Newsom’s successful mayoral campaign in San Francisco. She worked alongside her husband, Alex Tourk, who was not only one of Newsom’s closest political advisers but also a longtime friend. After Newsom took office, Rippey continued working within City Hall, where she says her office was eventually moved closer to the mayor’s. The increased professional contact, she writes, gradually altered the way she viewed herself and the attention she believed she was receiving.

Looking back with the benefit of hindsight, Rippey describes noticing subtle changes in her behaviour. She recalls becoming more conscious of her appearance, taking greater care with her clothes and makeup, and feeling increasingly visible within City Hall.

She writes that she enjoyed the sense of importance that came with working closely to one of California’s fastest rising political figures, even though she now struggles to recognise that version of herself. At the time, she says she was also trying to maintain sobriety while balancing the demands of work, marriage and caring for her young son.

One moment that stayed with Rippey involved a meal she shared with Newsom and her husband at a Mexican restaurant. According to her account, Newsom complimented her appearance after she had recently given birth, telling her she looked good and had lost her pregnancy weight. She recalls that the exchange left a lasting impression because it made her feel noticed during a period when she was emotionally vulnerable. Although she does not present the incident as the beginning of the affair, she suggests it marked one of several moments that gradually changed the nature of their relationship.

How the Affair Reportedly Began

According to Rippey, the affair began during the summer of 2005 after a wedding celebration in Napa Valley. She writes that she broke her sobriety that evening, drinking wine and champagne until large portions of the night became difficult to remember. One of the clearest memories she describes is standing opposite Newsom in a narrow hallway outside a bathroom while the two waited in silence. She recalls maintaining eye contact longer than she believed she should have, describing the atmosphere between them as suddenly changing without either of them saying very much.

As the evening continued, Rippey says she found herself sitting beside a hot tub with Newsom while other guests remained nearby. She remembers dipping her feet into the water as Newsom rolled up his trouser legs and did the same. Her husband eventually left the gathering, frustrated that she wanted to continue socialising while he returned home to care for their one year old son. Rippey writes that she later travelled back to the hotel in Newsom’s chauffeured car, where she remembers placing her feet on the centre console while Newsom massaged them from the front seat.

After that point, Rippey says her memory largely disappeared because of intoxication. She recalls waking the following morning cold, confused and ashamed, discovering that she had passed out after drinking heavily. A few days later, Newsom returned a gold bracelet that she had accidentally left behind in the hotel room. Rippey describes the gesture as one of several small moments that led the relationship to continue rather than end after a single encounter.

More Than a Romance in Rippey’s Eyes

Throughout her essay, Rippey repeatedly argues that what developed between her and Newsom was not driven by romance. Instead, she describes the relationship as another form of intoxication that became closely connected to her ongoing struggles with alcohol. Every text message, glance across City Hall and secret meeting, she writes, produced the same rush that addiction often creates. Looking back, she believes the excitement came less from love than from feeling chosen by someone who occupied one of the most influential political positions in San Francisco.

Rippey also reflects on the attraction she felt toward what she calls proximity to power. She writes that working closely with a rising political figure gave her a renewed sense of importance at a time when she was struggling with motherhood, addiction and uncertainty about her identity. She says the relationship became intertwined with her search for validation, making it increasingly difficult to separate emotional dependence from professional admiration.

Although Rippey accepts responsibility for her decisions, she also argues that unequal power existed because Newsom was both her employer and one of California’s most prominent elected officials. She rejects suggestions that she was coerced into the relationship, insisting that she made her own choices. At the same time, she believes leaders have additional responsibilities when personal relationships develop with employees. In her view, authority does not always need to involve direct pressure for an imbalance to exist, and she now sees that reality as an important part of understanding what happened.

The Affair Spiralled as Addiction Deepened

Rippey writes that what began as a secret relationship gradually became an increasingly destructive cycle. Although there were moments when it appeared the affair might end, she says the encounters continued over several months. In one episode described in her essay, she recalls spilling a glass of wine inside Newsom’s residence while he attempted to clean the stain. According to Rippey, Newsom remarked that they could not continue seeing each other because of the impact it would have on her husband, Alex Tourk. She believed the relationship might finally be over, but says they eventually resumed contact despite recognising the risks involved.

The relationship extended beyond San Francisco. Rippey recounts travelling to Los Angeles, where she says she stayed in a different hotel while exchanging messages with Newsom before joining him. Once again, alcohol played a central role in the evening, and she writes that much of what followed was lost to blackout. When she awoke the next morning, she noticed buttons scattered across the room and initially had no idea where they had come from. Only later, after Newsom texted her joking that the hotel fortunately had spare T shirts, did she realise she had torn the buttons from his shirt during the night.

Rather than bringing excitement, these episodes left Rippey increasingly overwhelmed by guilt and self loathing. She describes returning home in tears after the Los Angeles trip, struggling to reconcile her actions with the life she had built alongside her husband and young son. At work, she says her performance deteriorated as she regularly arrived late, left early and found herself thinking constantly about drinking instead of focusing on her responsibilities. Looking back, she believes the affair and her addiction became inseparable, each feeding the other until both were consuming her life.

The decline continued until her substance abuse escalated beyond alcohol. Rippey writes that she eventually began using cocaine, leading to serious health complications. A visit to the emergency room after suffering persistent nosebleeds became a turning point for her family, who finally recognised the severity of her addiction. Her sister informed her that their father would pay for rehabilitation treatment, and Rippey agreed to seek help. She now describes that decision as the beginning of the long process that ultimately transformed her life.

Rehabilitation Led to the End of the Relationship

During rehabilitation, Rippey says her focus shifted away from the affair and toward confronting the addiction that had dominated her life. She recalls her sister contacting Newsom directly to make it clear that Rippey was entering treatment and needed to be left alone. According to the essay, her sister told the future governor that even if Rippey attempted to contact him herself, it would be his responsibility not to continue the relationship. Rippey says Newsom’s response was brief, simply replying, “God bless.”

After completing rehabilitation, Rippey attempted to rebuild her life as a wife and mother while maintaining her sobriety. Yet she writes that the affair remained a secret that weighed heavily on her conscience. Her husband continued working with Newsom and even joined the mayor’s 2006 reelection campaign, completely unaware of the relationship that had taken place behind the scenes. Rippey says the silence became increasingly unbearable, describing it as something that settled inside her until she could no longer carry it.

Although some people reportedly advised her not to reveal the affair because of its potential impact on her recovery and the political consequences it might create, Rippey ultimately decided she had to tell the truth herself. In early 2007, while staying at her parents’ home, she sent an email to Alex Tourk admitting what had happened. She described the relationship as “just sex” that had continued on and off for months before ending prior to her entering rehabilitation. Rippey has since written that one of her greatest regrets is confessing through an email rather than speaking directly to her husband face to face.

The revelation devastated Tourk and quickly set in motion events that would become front page news throughout California. After learning the truth, Tourk confronted Newsom personally. Within days, details of the affair had spread across San Francisco’s political circles before becoming a national story. Newsom publicly admitted the relationship in February 2007, apologising for his conduct and acknowledging that the reports were accurate.

Revisiting the Controversy After Years of Silence

One of the most widely discussed aspects of Rippey’s essay involves her recollection of a conversation with then San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris. According to Rippey, she considered speaking publicly about the affair after it became national news but sought advice before doing so. Harris, she says, encouraged her not to rush into making public statements, telling her that allowing more time to pass would provide greater perspective. Rippey now describes that conversation as one of the most valuable pieces of advice she received during an extremely difficult period.

For years afterwards, Rippey largely declined requests from journalists to discuss the scandal. She also rejected suggestions that the relationship had been non consensual, insisting that she knowingly participated in the affair. At the same time, her essay argues that recognising her own responsibility does not erase the influence of workplace power. She writes that power does not always require direct coercion and believes those in positions of authority have a greater obligation to maintain professional boundaries.

Rippey also revisits the public criticism directed toward her after the affair became known. She recalls that Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who was dating Gavin Newsom at the time and later became his wife, publicly referred to Rippey as the “culprit” while commenting on the controversy years ago. Although those remarks attracted attention at the time, Rippey does not dwell on them extensively in her essay, instead focusing on how she has come to understand her own actions after two decades of sobriety and reflection.

Another issue she raises concerns Newsom’s recently published memoir, in which he wrote that he “came clean” to Alex Tourk about the affair. Rippey disputes that portrayal, arguing that she confessed to her husband before Tourk confronted Newsom. While acknowledging that the wording in the memoir may technically be defensible, she believes it leaves readers with the mistaken impression that Newsom took the first step in revealing the truth. For Rippey, correcting that detail became one of the reasons she finally decided to tell her own version of events.

Newsom Stands by His Earlier Apology

Following publication of the Vanity Fair essay, Newsom’s office responded through a spokesperson rather than issuing a personal statement. The governor’s office noted that he publicly acknowledged the affair and apologised nearly two decades ago while serving as San Francisco mayor. It added that Newsom has since married Jennifer Siebel Newsom, started a family and devoted his attention to serving Californians. According to the statement, he has already addressed the episode in his memoir and has nothing further to add out of respect for everyone involved.

The new essay does not accuse Newsom of criminal misconduct, nor does it introduce allegations that fundamentally alter the known facts surrounding the scandal. Instead, it offers a personal examination of addiction, accountability and the long term emotional consequences of decisions made during a turbulent period in Rippey’s life. Her reflections also contribute to broader conversations about workplace relationships, power imbalances and the ways personal failings can continue to shape public reputations decades later.

As Newsom remains one of the Democratic Party’s highest profile figures, Rippey’s decision to revisit the affair ensures renewed public attention on a controversy that once appeared firmly in the past. Whether the essay has any lasting political effect remains uncertain, but it has already prompted fresh discussion about leadership, responsibility and the complicated intersection between private conduct and public office. For Rippey, however, the essay appears less about reopening an old political scandal than about reclaiming a story that, until now, had largely been told by everyone except the person who lived through it.