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The Truth About Gavin Newsom's Marriage
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00:00When Gavin Newsom married actor Jennifer Siebel in 2008, he described their wedding as magical.
00:06So, now that Newsom is governor of California,
00:08is his high-profile marriage living up to its lofty expectations? Keep watching to find out.
00:14When Gavin Newsom met Jennifer Siebel, the sparks immediately flew. According to the San
00:18Francisco Chronicle, a mutual friend played matchmaker, setting them up on a blind date in
00:222006. Even though Newsom was fresh off of a divorce from his first wife, it was pretty much
00:27love at first sight. Siebel was an actor who'd appeared in Mad Men, Numbers, and a slew of
00:32movies. Newsom was an up-and-coming Democratic powerhouse, having become mayor of San Francisco
00:37in 2004. He was also a self-made millionaire with an upscale chain of wine stores, wineries,
00:42restaurants, nightclubs, hotels, and retail shops, as noted in the Los Angeles Times.
00:47Despite his high profile, Siebel told the San Francisco Chronicle that she didn't know much
00:51about Newsom when they first met, aside from him being a, quote,
00:54politician with aspirations. However, they hit it off instantly. Siebel told the Chronicle,
00:59"...we had so much in common we were blown away, from our love for Africa,
01:02to our interests in political issues, to art and the wine business and college sports."
01:07Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel make for the perfect political pairing тАФ glamorous,
01:11supportive, and seemingly always on the same wavelength. But although they now share the
01:15same values and ideals, it hasn't always been that way. The couple's childhoods and upbringing
01:20were poles apart despite some initial similarities. Newsom's father, William Newsom, was a state
01:25appeals court judge and administrator of the Getty Trust. As per the Los Angeles Times,
01:29William was a staunch Democrat who had grown up with the Gettys, courtesy of his close friendship
01:34with high school classmate Gordon Getty. William married Tessa Menzies in 1966, and they had two
01:39children, Gavin and Hillary. However, according to Elle, the siblings' lives changed dramatically
01:44following their parents' split when Gavin was still a toddler. Tessa was now a single mom,
01:48raising her kids alone in a small apartment. Due to William's reluctance to financially support
01:53his former family, she had to work multiple jobs while studying for her Realtor's license.
01:58Meanwhile, Siebel grew up in the tiny Bay Area suburb of Ross. She attended prep school
02:02and studied at Stanford. Her father earned a fortune as an investment manager. Per the AP,
02:07he was a devout Republican and ardent believer in Reaganomics, as were all of the family.
02:12"-Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem."
02:18Siebel eventually formed her own political ideology, however, and in 2008, she switched
02:22from being a registered Republican to a member of the American Independent Party, per SFGate.
02:28When Gavin Newsom walked down the aisle with Jennifer Siebel, it wasn't his first time at the
02:32wedding rodeo. The politician was previously married to former Fox News commentator Kimberly
02:37Guilfoyle. Yes, that Kimberly Guilfoyle тАФ Donald Trump Jr.'s latest squeeze.
02:42"-Leaders and fighters for freedom and liberty and the American dream, the best is yet to come."
02:50Newsom and Guilfoyle said,
02:51"-I do," in 2001.
02:53Guilfoyle was an assistant DA and Newsom was a city supervisor, so they made for a high-profile pairing.
02:58Guilfoyle quit her prosecutor role to join her husband's campaign team as he ran for mayor.
03:03She moved from the courtroom to the camera following his win,
03:06starting as an on-air legal analyst before landing a gig with Fox News.
03:09However, San Francisco's new first lady soon moved to New York in order to further her career,
03:14and by 2006, the couple was divorced. Newsom was suddenly the hottest bachelor in town,
03:19and he made the most of it, dating actor Sofia Milos for a spell, according to the San Francisco
03:24Chronicle. Meanwhile, Siebel lived it up in Los Angeles as she built her acting career. Back in
03:28her Hollywood days, Siebel hooked up with George Clooney. The actors saw each other for a brief period
03:33in 2002 тАФ so brief that Clooney admitted to Esquire,
03:37we went out for a minute. When news broke of Gavin Newsom's affair with a former staffer,
03:42Ruby Rippey Gibney, the wife of his deputy chief of staff, Alex Turk, Jennifer Siebel stuck by his
03:47side, even though they'd only been dating for a few months. The affair, which occurred following
03:51Newsom's breakup with Kimberly Guilfoyle, spelled the end of Rippey Gibney's marriage.
03:55It's something I can't do over, and it's something for the rest of my life I'll regret.
04:00Newsom later told the Sacramento Bee about the affair,
04:03"'Sometimes people make mistakes in their lives, and you then work hard never to make them again
04:07because you learn from them. I've never made them again, and I've learned from it,
04:10and it led ultimately to falling in love with Jen.'"
04:13Siebel continued to stand by her man after he opened up about his alcohol use.
04:17Rumors about Newsom's drinking had been floating around for some time,
04:20and he publicly addressed them after news of the affair broke. Newsom said in a statement,
04:24"'I have come to the conclusion that I will be a better person without alcohol in my life.'"
04:28Newsom shot down media reports that he'd entered rehab, though, telling the Sacramento Bee,
04:33"'There was no treatment, no nothing related to any of that stuff. I stopped
04:36because I thought it was a good thing to stop.'"
04:39Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel decided to take it to the next level in December 2007.
04:44Newsom popped the question during the holidays after 14 months of dating.
04:47According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the couple was vacationing in Hawaii when he asked
04:52for Siebel's hand in marriage. In a nod to old-fashioned family values,
04:55Newsom asked Siebel's father for his permission before proposing.
04:59Newsom and Siebel married in July 2008. As SFGate reported at the time,
05:03they wed at her father's ranch in Stevensville, Montana, in front of 230 guests.
05:08Siebel arrived in style astride a black stallion, clad in Vera Wang and glittering diamonds,
05:13as the Missoula Symphony Orchestra played the Out of Africa film score.
05:17Newsom told the San Francisco Sentinel,
05:19"'I want our wedding to be everything for her that she ever dreamed of. That's why it is Montana.
05:23It's her dream, right there on the river. I want it to be magical.'"
05:27Jennifer Siebel is passionate about reversing injustice,
05:30gender bias, and financial inequality. She's made three documentaries,
05:34Misrepresentation, The Mask You Live In, and The Great American Lie.
05:38Here's what the San Francisco Chronicle had to say about The Great American Lie.
05:41The film makes a strong case that the system, as it is currently structured,
05:45puts the American dream out of reach for anyone born poor, except for the extremely gifted or
05:50extremely lucky. Gavin Newsom is publicly supportive of his wife's views. However,
05:55he has no problem with putting those concerns aside when furthering his political ambitions.
06:00Jacobin Magazine once wrote of Newsom,
06:02"'If centrist liberalism were a person, that person would be Gavin Newsom.' He talks a big
06:06game about equality and justice, but his actions as governor of California tell a different story."
06:11Despite being raised by a single mom in a modest apartment after his parents divorced,
06:15Gavin maintained a strong relationship with his father. William Newsom was close friends with
06:20Gordon Getty, an administrator of the Getty Trust, according to CalMatters.org.
06:24William's position as a state appeals court judge also enabled him to form bonds with other family
06:29dynasties, and Gavin relied on those friendships to launch his political career. According to the Los
06:34Angeles Times, eight of San Francisco's most elite families have been Gavin's most prominent
06:39financial contributors over the decades. The Wall Street Journal reports that the California
06:43governor raised $70 million to help defeat the recall threat thanks to his uber-rich connections.
06:50In addition to raising their four children, Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel also worked closely
06:54together. The filmmaker was by his side when he met with the president of El Salvador in April 2019.
07:00Unlike many other politicians' wives, Siebel didn't just smile and make small talk. According to the AP,
07:06she quizzed the president about his country's human rights abuses against women тАФ in fluent Spanish,
07:10no less. According to the AP, since he became state governor, Siebel has encouraged her husband
07:16to decrease wage disparities and improve family leave provisions. And it appears her hard work paid
07:21off. In May 2019, Newsom announced his parents' agenda. The legislation expanded paid family leave
07:27for each parent equally and increased tax credits to benefit low-income families.
07:32Newsom also decreased taxes on tampons and diapers as part of the new state budget.
07:37Both Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel purport to be staunch supporters of the MeToo movement.
07:42In 2019, a CAGov press release announced,
07:45Governor Newsom signed landmark legislation drafted in response to the MeToo movement focused
07:50on sexual harassment prevention and accountability, and creating a safe workplace for all Californians,
07:56especially women who experience sexual harassment at disproportionate rates.
08:00However, both Newsom and Siebel have come under fire for alleged shady dealings involving Harvey Weinstein.
08:05The convicted sexual predator and rapist that sparked the MeToo social movement.
08:10Newsom's commitment was called into question when the Washington Free Beacon reported that
08:14he'd apparently been given a $300 bottle of wine by David Boies, one of Weinstein's attorneys.
08:20The gift was accepted by Newsom a month after it was reported that Boies had been hired by the
08:24disgraced movie mogul to dig up dirt on his accusers and victims.
08:28Siebel's ethics were put under the spotlight after Rose McGowan alleged in an interview with Dave Rubin
08:33that she'd attempted to broker a deal in return for the outspoken actor's silence.
08:37Rubin tweeted a clip of the interview and revealed McGowan told him,
08:41"...Jennifer called her on behalf of Harvey Weinstein's lawyer six months
08:44before the Weinstein scandal broke to make the story go away."
08:48Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel are more than just spouses and parents. They're also
08:52each other's biggest supporters. In an interview with The Sacramento Bee, the California governor had
08:57this praise for his wife, "...I value the incredible work Jennifer's done on issues of gender equality,
09:02pay equity, how we're raising our boys, and now a growing commitment to income inequality."
09:07Meanwhile, Siebel told The Bee in a separate interview,
09:10"...Gavin and I are just very aligned and we educate each other. He's like my best researcher
09:14and he's learned so much from my films and I've learned so much from his work."
09:18Siebel also fiercely defends her husband if he's attacked. As per Yahoo News, when criticism grew
09:23over Newsom canceling his trip to the COP26 conference for family reasons, Siebel hit back
09:28hard, writing in a since-deleted tweet, "...it's funny how certain folks can't handle truth. When
09:33someone cancels something, maybe they're just in the office working, maybe in their free time they're
09:37at home with their family, at their kids' sports matches, or dining out with their wife. Please
09:42stop hating and get a life."
09:44Jennifer Siebel tore up the political rulebook when Gavin Newsom became governor of California.
09:49Historically, governor's wives have always been referred to as the first lady,
09:53but that didn't sit well with Siebel, who chose the title of first partner instead.
09:57Following Newsom's victory, Siebel tweeted,
10:00"...being first partner is about inclusion, breaking down stereotypes,
10:03and valuing the partnerships that allow any of us to succeed. Grateful for this opportunity to
10:08continue advocating for a more equitable future."
10:10The filmmaker told the Los Angeles Times that the title didn't mean she viewed herself as a political
10:15equal. Siebel explained to the newspaper,
10:17"...but I see that we compliment and support each other, and I'm obviously a
10:21thought partner of his and the main thought partner."
10:23During the campaign, Siebel had equated gender roles to straight jackets, according to the Buffalo
10:28News. Siebel told the outlet,
10:30"...you lose something in the process of performing masculinity or performing femininity,
10:34which is being a lady."
10:35Siebel vowed that if Newsom won, she'd utilize her new power in productive ways,
10:39including advocating for mental health issues and dealing with sexual harassment-related
10:44matters, according to the Mercury News. Meanwhile, even though she fully supports her husband in
10:48any way she can, Siebel remains committed to continuing her own career and advocacy work.
10:53She's also made it clear that she's never going to be a trophy wife, quipping to the Mercury News,
10:58"...I've already played that in Hollywood."
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