AI Generated Image
Former Gavin Newsom aide shares fresh details of affair
The Guardian • • nation
Key Points:
- Ruby Rippey, a former aide to Gavin Newsom, has publicly detailed their affair from over 20 years ago in a Vanity Fair essay, describing her struggles with alcoholism and the impact of the relationship on her life.
- The affair occurred while Rippey worked as Newsom’s appointments secretary and was married to his deputy chief of staff, complicating Newsom’s previous characterization of the relationship as a brief affair.
- Rippey challenges Newsom’s account that he was the first to disclose the affair to her husband, asserting she had already done so, and reflects on the power dynamics involved in their relationship.
- After the affair became public in 2007, Rippey faced intense media scrutiny and personal difficulties, eventually entering rehab, leaving her job, and later divorcing her husband; she is now 20 years sober and has rebuilt her life.
- The essay may reignite public interest in the scandal as Newsom prepares for a potential 2028 presidential run, while his office and that of Jennifer Siebel Newsom have not yet commented on the new revelations.
