Former San Francisco City Hall Aide to Publish Account of 2007 Affair

Ruby Rippey-Gibney, a former San Francisco City Hall aide, will describe her account of an affair with then-Mayor Gavin Newsom in an upcoming Vanity Fair article. The relationship became public in early 2007 after Newsom's political adviser Alex Tourk discovered it and resigned. Newsom held a news conference acknowledging the affair and describing it as a personal lapse of judgment.

Background of the 2007 Scandal Rippey-Gibney worked as Newsom's appointments secretary at the time. The affair drew attention because she was married to one of Newsom's close political allies and questions arose about power dynamics between an elected official and a subordinate employee.

Newsom announced he would stop drinking and seek professional help. He later stated he received counseling from Delancey Street Foundation president Mimi Silbert rather than entering a rehabilitation program.

Newsom won reelection as mayor later in 2007 despite the scandal. He was elected lieutenant governor in 2010 and governor of California in 2018. Rippey-Gibney has largely avoided public comment since the affair. She wrote on Facebook in 2018 that she did not consider the relationship part of the #MeToo movement because she viewed herself as a consenting adult.

The governor's office and Vanity Fair did not respond to requests for comment on the upcoming article.