An aide involved in an affair with Gavin Newsom more than 20 years ago, when he was mayor of San Francisco, detailed their relationship and her journey to sobriety in an essay published by Vanity Fair on Tuesday.
Although Ruby Rippey, 54, has spoken previously about her relationship with the now-governor, her first-person essay offers the most intimate description yet of the affair. It comes at a time when Newsom is wrapping up his final year as California governor and considering a presidential run in 2028.
Rippey, who had worked as Newsom’s appointments secretary, was married to Alex Tourk, the then-mayor’s close friend, campaign manager and prior deputy chief of staff, when the affair became public in 2007. Tourk resigned after Rippey told him that she had been sleeping with their boss, she writes.
At the time, Newsom was newly divorced from Kimberly Guilfoyle and he apologized in front of a gaggle of reporters who packed his office for a news conference, admitting “everything you’ve heard and read is true.” Later, he said he was seeking treatment for alcohol abuse.
In the essay, Rippey details that the affair with Newsom happened when she was a new mother and when her drinking, which had been a problem before the relationship, spiraled out of control.
Rippey writes that their relationship began in July 2005 after a wedding at a Napa Valley estate and spanned months, with intermittent sexual encounters until she entered rehab in May 2006.
They met at his penthouse in San Francisco’s Russian Hill neighborhood, at a private back room in a bar in North Beach and at the W Hotel in Los Angeles, she writes.
“We meet and we drink. There is sex, but it isn’t the point. The point is proximity — to power, to being chosen, to feeling newly visible — no longer muted by pregnancy, by new motherhood, by the strain of white-knuckling long stretches of sobriety,” she writes. “It isn’t love. It isn’t romance. It’s intoxication.”
Izzy Gardon, a spokesperson for the governor’s office, said on Tuesday that Newsom acknowledged his role and publicly apologized for the affair nearly two decades ago.
“In the time since, he met his wife, started a family and has focused on serving Californians. He addressed this chapter of his life, including in his memoir, and out of respect for everyone involved, does not have anything further to add,” Gardon said.
The affair occurred while Gavin Newsom was mayor of San Francisco.
(San Francisco Chronicle / Hearst Newspapers)
Newsom faced renewed criticism for the affair during the 2018 governor’s race amid a larger reckoning over sexual misconduct in politics, corporate America and Hollywood. But Rippey has said she doesn’t see herself as a victim of a powerful man.
“Yes, I was a subordinate, but I was also a free-thinking, 33-yr old adult married woman & mother. (I also happened to have an unfortunate inclination towards drinking-to-excess & self-destruction.),” she wrote on Facebook at the time.
She still doesn’t place blame on the governor for what happened, but noted in her essay that in the post-#MeToo era she came to realize that her then-boss had a responsibility to “hold the line.”
“That didn’t happen. But I didn’t stumble into the space left open — I saw a possibility and went for it,” she writes. “Both things are true: I am responsible for what I did. Power does not distribute consequences evenly.”
For Newsom, she writes, the affair is merely a “footnote in a longer arc of ascent. For me, it is the fracture that split my life into before and after.”
In his memoir, “Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery,” published this year, Newsom acknowledges the liaison with Rippey, describing it as “the briefest of affairs.”
He also writes that he admitted the betrayal to Tourk, a detail that Rippey takes issue with in her essay. She says she was the one who first broke the devastating news to her husband via email while she was at her parent’s house in Napa and he was home in San Francisco with their young son.
“But resentment is a luxury I can’t afford,” she writes. “Instead, I return to gratitude, not for the affair, not for the pain I caused Alex, but for the totality of what followed. I required something catastrophic to change direction. Something that made the cost of going back — of drinking again — unthinkable.”
After the affair, Rippey and Tourk divorced but continued to co-parent their son, who is now an adult. She’s been sober for 20 years, she writes, remarried and now has a son with her second husband.
“The damage was mine,” she writes at the conclusion of her essay. “But so is the life rebuilt in its wake.”
Times staff writer Taryn Luna contributed to this report.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — With most of Yukon watching and a loud presence of Maple Leafs fans in the stands, Toronto selected Penn State forward Gavin McKenna with the first pick in the NHL draft on Friday night.
The 18-year-old McKenna is from Yukon’s capital of Whitehorse and has been a prolific scorer on both sides of the border, with his selection validating the projections of the left winger being his age group’s top prospect more than two years ago.
McKenna’s selection was announced by longtime Leafs fan and Canadian-born international pop icon Justin Bieber.
“I got no words right now,” McKenna said. “This is nuts. Obviously I want to start by thanking my family. I love you guys. I wouldn’t be here without you guys.”
As in 2016, there was a large contingent of blue and white jersey-wearing Leafs fans, with a “Go Leafs, go!” chant erupting once Toronto was placed on the clock. Saying “the child in me is ecstatic,” Bieber joined NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman on stage and, after a short pause, looked over to McKenna and declared him being a member of the Maple Leafs.
Bieber teed up a video welcome message from Leafs captain Auston Matthews, who was their No. 1 pick a decade ago, when the draft was also in Buffalo.
“I know how exciting this is for you and your family and what an incredible honor it is,” Matthews said. “We’re just as excited to have you join the Maple Leafs and cannot wait to get started. You’re coming to a franchise with an amazing history and base, and we’re all working to write the next great chapter together. And you’re going to be a very important part of that.”
The draft opened with Bettman getting booed — a draft-day tradition — as he took the stage, and was joined by Sabres forward Josh Doan and NFL Bills tackle Dion Dawkins.
Dawkins referred to Bettman as his “new dawg,” acknowledged both the Sabres and Maple Leafs fans in attendance in leading a cheer of “Let’s go, Buffalo.”
For Toronto, McKenna represents a major plank in the rebuilding process of a team suddenly in transition under new general manager John Chayka. Toronto finished last in the Atlantic Division last season and missed the playoffs for the first time since Matthews’ arrival.
The San José Sharks took Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg with the No. 2 pick. Vancouver picks third, Buffalo fourth and the New York Rangers fifth.
The top of the draft class is considered light on forwards and deep in defensemen.
McKenna is accustomed to the spotlight, splashing on the scene by combining for 79 goals and 244 points in 133 games with the WHL’s Medicine Hat. He then made the jump to the NCAA last summer in a bid to challenge himself against older and more physical competition.
McKenna finished his freshman season with a flourish, scoring 32 points in his final 17 outings. His 51 points finished tied for fourth in the nation.
He became just the fifth NCAA player to go first, and third in six years, since Michigan defenseman Owen Power went No. 1 to Buffalo in 2021.
Though accustomed to the spotlight, McKenna now heads to a metropolis that is nearly 100 times larger than Whitehorse’s population of about 39,000. He became the fifth Yukon-born player to be selected in the draft, and the highest pick after Ottawa’s Dylan Cozens went No. 7 to Buffalo in 2019.
A day earlier, without revealing who he was picking, Chayka said the team’s staff was unanimous on their choice. Chayka even traveled to Whitehorse last month to spend time with McKenna and his family.
Reporting from Sacramento — Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced he will place his ownership interest in the collection of wineries, hotels, restaurants and other investments that made him a millionaire into a blind trust, a step he said “goes beyond anything required by law.”
Since his election in November, Newsom has been weighing how to handle his array of assets in the hospitality business, collectively known as the PlumpJack Group, a multimillion-dollar business enterprise that grew from a wine shop he opened in San Francisco in 1992. Those holdings have the potential to create ethical conflicts between Newsom’s job as California’s chief executive and his business interests.
“Governor-elect Gavin Newsom is announcing today that he will be the first governor in the history of California to release his tax returns every year, just as he has done as a candidate,” Newsom’s spokesman Nathan Click said in a statement. “Newsom will also disclose his personal and business holdings each year on his statement of economic interest and separate himself from the PlumpJack Group wine and hospitality businesses that he has built.’’
Bob Stern, coauthor of California’s 1974 Political Reform Act that dictates the state’s conflict-of-interest laws, praised Newsom’s decision.
“That’s as much as anybody could ask him to do, except for selling all the properties, which I wouldn’t recommend him doing,” Stern said Thursday.
Stern added, however, that placing those assets in a blind trust does not remove the potential that Newsom could face a possible conflict of interest as governor. Under the law, Newsom is required to disclose all assets in the blind trust until those assets are sold, Stern said.
Newsom is in the process of transferring title to and control of the businesses into the blind trust, Click said. Newsom selected family friend Shyla Hendrickson, an attorney and certified public accountant with more than two decades of experience in the investment management business, as trustee, he said.
Under the terms of the blind trust, Hendrickson will have total authority over the assets, Click said, including the power to sell off Newsom’s business ownership without consulting him. She also is barred from discussing those decisions with Newsom.
Picking a family friend to serve as trustee is allowable under state law, Stern said, adding that the fact that Newsom’s sister, Hilary Newsom Callan, serves as president of the PlumpJack Group is “not a problem” under the law.
State law does not require Newsom to divest from PlumpJack Group or release the names of his business associates. And Newsom can legally sign bills or take executive action beneficial to his companies if those decisions affect all Californians or a significant segment of the population in the same way they affect him.
Newsom has yet to announce any details about the financial interests of his wife, documentary filmmaker Jennifer Siebel Newsom, whose foundation could also raise questions for the incoming governor.
Siebel Newsom’s foundation, the Representation Project, which helps fund her documentaries along with education programs and community outreach “to challenge limiting gender stereotypes and shift norms,” has in the past received financial support from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and AT&T. PG&E and its foundation reported donating $100,000 to the Representation Project in 2017, $85,000 in 2016 and $10,000 in 2015, according to federal tax records and a list of PG&E’s charitable donations on the utility’s website.
As president of the foundation, Siebel Newsom received a salary of $150,000 in 2016, according to the most recent publicly available disclosures filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The foundation also reported paying Girls Club Entertainment, Siebel Newsom’s production company, $150,000 that same year. Newsom’s spokesman said the board of directors of the Representation Project is in the process of determining her future role with the foundation.
In 2018, PG&E also donated $58,400 to Gavin Newsom’s gubernatorial campaign and $150,000 to Citizens Supporting Gavin Newsom for Governor 2018, an independent expenditure committee that backed his candidacy.
Next year, the California Legislature is likely to consider a bill to provide financial relief for any utility whose equipment was involved in a wildfire in 2018. PG&E could face billions in potential liability costs for the deadly Camp fire near Chico, which killed at least 86 people and destroyed thousands of homes.
If approved by lawmakers, the bill would land on Newsom’s desk.
This isn’t the first time Newsom has had to address the intersection of his political and business lives. After he was elected mayor of San Francisco in 2003, Newsom sold his interests in the PlumpJack Group businesses in San Francisco to his longtime friend and business partner, oil heir Gordon Getty, for $1.7 million, according to a financial disclosure filed with the city. But Newsom held on to his investments outside the city limits, including in Napa Valley wineries and a hotel and gift shop at the Squaw Valley ski resort near Lake Tahoe.
“The mayor chose to take this unprecedented action because he feels it is in the best interest of San Francisco for its chief executive not to own businesses that operate in the city,” Newsom’s then-press secretary, Peter Ragone, told the San Francisco Chronicle in April 2004.
As governor, Newsom could face an array of potential ethical dilemmas as long as his assets in the PlumpJack Group remain in the trust.
For example, a corporation could conceivably try to curry favor with the new governor by renting out a bank of rooms at the PlumpJack Squaw Valley Inn or by throwing lavish parties at the Forgery bar in San Francisco, both among Newsom’s holdings. In those scenarios, the spending would likely not have to be disclosed.
Newsom has held campaign events at his restaurants and other businesses for years. His gubernatorial campaign spent more than $83,000 at his businesses from 2015 through election day, campaign finance records show.
In 2014, the California Democratic Party held a fundraiser at Newsom’s CADE Estate Winery in Napa Valley, paying the business $4,229. Just after Newsom was elected mayor of San Francisco in 2003, two Bay Area labor groups spent more than $1,000 at PlumpJack Wines, Newsom’s wine store.
Newsom has vowed to issue an executive order prohibiting state executive branch agencies from doing business with PlumpJack entities. He will also divest from all common stock that he owns in publicly traded companies. According to his latest financial disclosure, Newsom held stock in Intel Corp. and Merck & Co. worth $4,000 to $20,000 in total.
Napa Valley wineries have brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars in income for Newsom annually, according to financial disclosure records and business filings with the secretary of state’s office. Three wineries in the PlumpJack Group founded by Newsom and Getty generated nearly $800,000 in just one year for Newsom, according to his 2015 federal tax returns. Newsom and Getty — who are connected through Getty’s friendship with Newsom’s late father, who once managed Getty’s family trust — share multiple business interests.
Under state law, Newsom will not have to declare a conflict of interest when making a decision — whether to sign legislation or approve an administrative action — unless it “explicitly” affects one of his companies or investments, according to state Fair Political Practices Commission regulations.
For example, Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is sponsoring a bill that would allow bars in San Francisco, Los Angeles and seven other cities to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. The legislation passed this year but was vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown. If the bill passes again in the new legislative session, Newsom’s restaurants and bars would benefit financially if he signs it. But he still would be able to so without declaring a conflict of interest because the rules would apply to all restaurants and bars in those cities, not just his.
“He’s certainly allowed to sign bills dealing with wineries or dealing with restaurants,” Stern said.
In this 2004 photo, then-San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, left, Gordon Getty and then-Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown enjoy a pre-dinner glass of wine during an event at Newsom’s PlumpJack Winery in Oakville.
(Eric Risberg / Associated Press)
Although Newsom might be one of the wealthiest governors ever to serve in California, the issues posed by his assets aren’t new to the office, Stern said.
Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sold off stock and many other investments, placing the proceeds in a blind trust, although he had also disclosed investments outside the trust, including his Hollywood entertainment firm, Oak Productions.
While in office, Schwarzenegger was criticized for accepting a consulting job for a publisher of health and bodybuilding magazines — Muscle & Fitness and Flex — because a significant portion of the publications’ revenue came from advertising by makers of nutritional supplements. Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have created a list of banned substances for interscholastic sports and barred supplement manufacturers from sponsoring school events.
Rob Stutzman, a GOP strategist and former communications director for Schwarzenegger, said it was difficult to wall off some of Schwarzenegger’s business interests because they were tied to the “personal brand” of the Hollywood action star and former champion bodybuilder.
The best option in those cases is asking full disclosure from public officials, he said.
“I don’t think [Schwarzenegger’s situation] is unique. I think it’s just a matter of scrutiny and watching it,” Stutzman said.
“In Newsom’s case, if he can’t sell PlumpJack or other things he owns, he’s not going to be blind,” said retired attorney Colleen McAndrews, a former member of the state Fair Political Practices Commission who advised Schwarzenegger on setting up a blind trust when be became governor.
Local government politicians are most affected by the state’s conflict-of-interest law because cities and counties approve regulations, permits, land use restrictions and other items that could affect a single business or part of town. It would be rare to see a conflict arise under state law for the governor, however, because most of the action taken by the state’s chief executive affects all Californians equally, McAndrews said.
“You don’t have to recuse if a decision affects the public the same way it affects you,” she said.
Rick Scott, the wealthiest governor in Florida history who in November was elected to the U.S. Senate, came under intense scrutiny after he placed his assets in a blind trust. Multiple Florida news outlets reported that Scott’s blind trust made identical investments in a separate, private account for his wife, raising questions about just how “blind” the governor was to the trust.
GateHouse newspapers reported this year that the couple’s financial holdings in the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, which makes drugs to combat hepatitis C, had grown substantially. Florida’s Medicaid program has spent millions on those drugs, the report found.
Jamie Court, president of the nonprofit Consumer Watchdog, said that regardless of what the incoming governor decides to do regarding his assets, Newsom should provide full disclosure of all his financial interests.
“I think the governor has to be very open about his business relations, even beyond what the law calls for,” Court said. “If he hides anything, believe me, we will find out later and it won’t be good.”
Times staff writer Maloy Moore contributed to this report.
A Gavin & Stacey icon is tipped to be joining the celebrity line-up for the 2026 season of Strictly Come Dancing – which will see Emma Willis, Johannes Radebe and Josh Widdicombe take over as judges
Gavin & Stacey star Melanie Walters is reportedly joining the 2026 Strictly cast(Image: BBC)
Gavin & Stacey star Melanie Walters is the latest celebrity to have reportedly signed up to the 2026 season of Strictly Come Dancing. A report has claimed the 64-year-old actress will be throwing on sequins and hitting the ballroom floor as one of the star contestants for the upcoming 24th season of the long-running BBC show.
Sitcom fans will know Melanie as Gwen West in Gavin & Stacey – which aired its last ever episode in 2024 – and is also known for playing Bonnie Bevan in Hollyoaks, and for guest roles in a string of shows including Doc Martin, Casualty, and Beyond Paradise. Now fans may be able to see her in a whole new light as a contestant on the BBC’s iconic dance show.
The 2026 cast has started to be unveiled – with an EastEnders favourite and an Australian music icon among the confirmed cast so far. A report has now suggested that Melanie will be the next celeb to be announced as part of the upcoming line-up.
A source told The Sun on Sunday: ““Melanie is loved across the country for her role as Gwen. The Gavin & Stacey Christmas special in 2024 saw millions of fans turning in for the final episode of the series. BBC bosses are very excited to have landed Melanie given her popularity.”
When asked for a statement, the BBC responded to the Mirror to say: “We don’t comment on speculation.” EastEnders star Lacey Turner, who has played Stacey Slater in the BBC soap since 2004, was the first 2026 contestant to be announced – with Australian singer and recent Eurovision contestant Delta Goodrem also unmasked as a participant.
Fans will recall that Love Island star Dani Dyer was forced to drop out of the 2025 contest after suffering an early injury during the competition – but she has now been granted the chance to fight for the glitterball trophy again as she will return as a 2026 contestant. While celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton has also been unveiled as a season 24 participant.
After being announced as the first contestant for 2026, Lacey said in a statement: “I am so excited to being making my way to the dance floor this year to be a part of Strictly Come Dancing! I am a huge fan and can’t quite believe I will be taking part and not watching at home this year! I look forward to meeting everyone and learning a new skill!”
While Love Island’s Dani declared: “I am so excited to be back in the ballroom this September. I just cannot wait to get my dancing shoes back on and hopefully this time around I can actually make it to week one! I’m just over the moon and cannot wait to find out who else is doing it!”
Meanwhile, singer Delta – who was a favourite to win the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, but missed out on the crown – expressed her excitement at taking part in Strictly. She gushed: “I’ve been incredibly honoured to perform on many different stages throughout my career – from tv, theatre, film sets, to touring my own shows around the world, there is however one stage I’ve never stepped onto and that is the ballroom floor! I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Strictly and can’t wait to get started!”
Chris – who has styled the hair of celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Ariana Grande – said: “I’m thrilled to be joining Strictly Come Dancing and coming home to the UK for this incredible experience. I’ve always believed that the best things happen when you take a chance and try something new. I may know my way around a salon floor, but the dance floor is a whole different story – and I can’t wait to get started.”
A lot is riding on the 2026 season of Strictly – which will be the first to air since the shock resignations of hosts Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman. Fans were blindsided last year when they abruptly announced they were to exit the show at the end of 2025 just weeks after the 23rd season started to air.
Model-turned-presenter Emma Willis will front the show alongside former Strictly professional Johannes Radebe and stand up comedian Josh Widdicombe. Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood have all been confirmed as returning as the panel of judges.
As news of the new presenting line-up last month, Emma declared: “To be stepping into the Strictly ballroom is something I can’t quite comprehend.” While Josh added he was: “giddy with excitement, honoured and a little overawed to be given the chance to step into the biggest shoes in television”.
And Strictly pro Johannes – who danced professionally on the series from 2018 through 2025 – said returning to the series as a new presenter was “beyond anything I ever imagined”. The 2026 season of Strictly is expected to begin airing in September.
James Corden has revealed he dislikes one of Gavin & Stacey’s iconic episodesCredit: GettyThe writer and show star admitted that the series’ second episode was ‘very bad’Credit: PA
Despite being much-loved by fans, James has revealed that he was not a fan of the show’s second ever episode – despite it being the one where the titular characters get engaged.
Describing the episode as a “very, very, very bad half hour” whilst talking at theBBC Comedy Festival, James explained that he felt they were “backed into a corner” by the episode ending with Gavin proposing to Stacey.
The episode sees Gavin – played by Mathew Horne – travel to Wales to make up with Joanna Page’s character Stacey following a dispute, and ends with him proposing.
Despite noting some “saving graces” in the writing, he added: “It’s an awful episode”.
James and Ruth have signed a multi-million pound deal with AppleTV+ for a follow-up series.
They will star in the ten-part comedy drama alongside an all-British cast.
Set in the UK, filming begins next year with the hotly-anticipated show due in 2027.
The deal, believed to worth up to £8million, was agreed amid interest from BBC, Netflix and Amazon Prime.
A show insider said: “In what has unquestionably been a pretty miserable year for Brits, there is finally something to cheer — a new James and Ruth co-production.
“As you might expect, it is uplifting, gentle and very funny.
“They wanted to bring something full of heart and warmth back to screens; water cooler moments for all the family.”
