March 12, 2007
Not A Girl's Kind Of Girl
Oh, so Jennifer Siebel is that kind of girl: the kind that doesn't like other girls. People are abuzz about the comments that Gavin Newsom's current companion made in what was otherwise a kind of fluffy throwaway interview in the Sunday Style section of the Chronicle -- where she lashed out at people criticizing her man's behavior with the wife of his campaign aide by saying, "the woman is the culprit.." Oh, nice.
Here's the full quote from the article:
"I shouldn't say this, but there are two sides to every story,'' she said in an exhausted tone. "If people did research into the scandal ... the woman is the culprit. Alex Tourk is a nice man and it saddens me that his wife did that to him.
Oh, poor victimized Gavin, helplessly seduced by a woman suffering from a potentially-deadly substance abuse problem and whose paychecks he signed! And sweet, sweet (and exhausted-toned) Jennifer, so exhaustedly willing to forgive her publicity magnet because, you know, boys will be boys and other women: they're the competition.
Wow, we sure do love it when women stand up for each other. Hope Jennifer's never going to need the support of a girlfriend if things go south for her and Gavin.
Picture of Robin Morgan's Sisterhood is Powerful, which is out of print, so the only picture we could find was from a sale on eBay.
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WTF? Are you saying that women should never criticize each other? This is stupid.
Of course, women can be critical of each other (and "the woman" certainly deserves criticism), but unless Gavin was raped he deserves his share of the criticism too.
Are you there Jennifer? It's me, Margaret. Oh wait, it's not Margaret. It's your self-appointed E-intervenor. Welcome to your E-intervention. Pull up a chair.
First of all, there's good reason for tons of people to be hella jealous (envious, to be more precise) of you. You're a natural beauty, you had a great upbringing, and you managed not to turn out like a Paris Hilton.
However, we have this:
"If people did research into the scandal ... the woman is the culprit"
Did you really mean to use the largest newspaper in NorCal to publicly invite "people" to do "research" into the affair? Did you really mean to hold one person 100% responsible for the whole deal? Really?
Here's your three-step program:
1. Send a hand-written note of apology to Ruby.
2. Make a public apology. Something like you got carried away, you're not used to being in the public eye, you were misquoted (not likely to be even remotely credible even though those ellipses DO look a little funny), you got along so well with the interviewer you treated her like a girlfriend and so you just offered your best intuition on the matter, something like that. Obviously you are privvy to more details than the general public, but whatever you are suggesting, it doesn't matter, even if you think it's true, even if it is true.
3. Move on
The sooner the better.
How dare she point fingers away from the mayor. It is unbelievable and sickening that she made these comments. What is more sickening is the support this guy gets even with muni not working, crime at an all time high, 49ers gone, traffic on city streets maddening. When will this guy be accountable for anything?
She sounds very young and naive.
Also, it could very well be that she is just parotting word for word what the Mayor told her. Maybe he really believes that Mrs. Tourk is to blame.
In a few years I think Ms. Seibel will grow up and will regret her words.
How does someone with such an impressive background (MA from Stanford, aid worker, etc) paint such a spectacularly unimpressive picture of themself in an interview? Am I the only person who rejoiced at the thought that at last the Mayor had found a woman to date who didn't model underwear? I am sorely disappointed. This is the worst one yet. A DILETTANTE & an underwear model...err..I mean actress.
Memo to the staff of Gavin Newsom:
Next time your vetting out girlfriend candidates for your boss please AIM HIGHER.
Clearly, she isn't the brightest. She also made the following, incredibly insightful, politially-minded and relevant comment in support of Gavin:
"I'm surprised Gavin has any opponents. No offense to anyone, but I mean, come on, guys -- this is one of the best mayors in the world."
Wow, now THIS is what a Stanford education will apparently get you.
I don't think it is simple female envy here. If this woman had any class, she would not ever address this matter in any forum. Her upbringing is irrelevant since she obviously did not learn basic decency by insulting Alex Tourk's family in the public square. People are outraged by the audacity of this woman and her arrogant comments on the scandal. It is beyond improper for her to speak of it at all publicly, and especially unseemly that she dare lay blame in any direction. The interview is a pathetic veiled attempt to generate publicity for herself and her career.
I 100% agree with Renee's comment.
Plus she insulted Matt Gonzalez. That's a no-no, sweetheart.
Jen's billionaire uncle, Tom Siebel, is on the board at Stanford University-case closed!
I think the interview gave us a pretty good snap shot into the thoughts of Gavin Newsom. 1) Gavin is a victim of the media and Ruby Tourk 2) He is a great mayor, even if he has not accomplished anything 3) This is all so tiresome, can't we focus on important things like making Gavin Governor and Jennifer a movie star?
I can't believe that 70% of voters in SF like this act...
Gavin's got it made. He can cheat on her, and she'll just blame the other woman (or man). Sweet.
She was *right* about Matt. Women throw themselves at him, and nobody really knows why.
She went to STANFORD? And makes comments such as he's "one of the best mayors in the world"? Wow, Stanford's reputation as a magnet for smart people just went into the toilet.
I give her six months. After all, Scientology lady also did loud interviews about how much she and Gavin were in love, and how "passionate" (gag) he was. Where is she now? Probably at a Xenu convention, but not with our erstwhile, downtrodden mayor who was cruelly taken advantage of by an employee with a substance abuse problem, who also happened to be his good friend's wife, and whom it appears he made illegal payments to.
Yep, it's all that dirty ho's fault.
Jennifer Seibel is nothing but an air-headed D list "actress" with poor taste in men. She'll be gone soon.
hey there- So not meant the article to be what it was. most of the quotes were from the 5 min. follow-up phone call a few days later when i was sleep deprived and caught off guard. the events are in the past...i don't believe i even used the word "culprit". gals, i am a total woman's woman, girls girl, and i am just as sadenned that the article came out the way it did. i should have said in the article, "normally i would support the woman", but in this case, i could not, given the circumstances and ruby's checkered history...which anyone close to the subject matter knows.
also, tom siebel is not my uncle. he is my second cousin once removed. no financial connection whatsoever.
Rita, this isn't the first time you've written something not so nice about me. i appreciate that you think i need a stylist given the jacket i wore to the town hall but i can't afford it and i am sorry you think i dress so poorly. i hope you'll just leave me out of the press. i really meant no harm other than to protect gavin (per the reporter's questioning) and was caught off guard. and, you will think what you want, but i didn't want to do this interview anyway, and unfortunately was encouraged by my director and the publicist and i apologize for being caught off guard and so open re: the gavin situation. they had promised us that it wouldn't be personal and that it was just about the movie and i was naive.
i am a gals gal, have three sisters and have a ton of women friends and been pro women's issues and women supporting each other. ask any of them. eventually you'll see for yourself. it's why i gave my film company the name girls club originally and it's why i am producing a documentary on strong iconoclastic women who inspire us and can serve as role models to girls around the world. but i am not going to blindly support a woman who has cheated on her husband multiple times and watch while my boyfriend is the only one who gets punished..and, what, for something a long time ago when the man was going through a crises- divorce, the loss of his mother, the pressures of being mayor, etc. and he was vulnerable and lonely? and, what's your definition of affair? he's been so hurt by this all -- personally and professionally- and it was a few nothing incidents when she showed up passed out outside of his door. come on guys, have a heart. I have tried to see Ruby's side of the story but unfortunately everyone near to her has stories and says she is bad news.
i am turning that google alert off so don't expect to hear from me again but i hope you will give me a chance as a woman's woman and trust that i am a genuine person and didn't mean to harm anyone by this and the press is the press and they'll write the story they want...you may not like me but the one thing you have to know is that i am a girls' girl and I'll always be one..i just wish as women that some of us had more respect for ourselves and didn't always throw ourselves at the men....not a big deal, the press just decided to make it that. also, something to consider, we have so much power as women and yet it's taken away by stuff like this- gossip and mistruths. let's just let the past be in the past. gavin's a great mayor, if you think i am horrible and not a girls' girl, well hopefully you will change your mind.
i shouldn't even be writing this but i hate the press- and wish i hadn't been talked into doing it. and, not one second of this has been fun. believe me. i honestly don't think what i said was in anyway mean to ruby- there are two sides to everything. i just wish her the best in her recovery and marriage and i just wish that she would leave gavin and i alone and stop causing all of this drama and gossip. she did a bad thing to her husband and needs to take responsibility. gavin is and has taken responsiblity and it's not like i haven't given him tough love through this at times. but anyone close to him knows he is a good man and a great mayor and think what you want of me, i'm just trying my best and obviously making mistakes here and there. i didn't know i was getting into this mess in the first place and it's been a hard position to be in. i hope you all will just leave me out of this...and let the past stay in the past.
Thanks to Jennifer for publicly humiliating Alex Tourk once again. This decent, hard-working man has suffered enough through this entire ordeal. I am bewildered by her callous words and the fact that she dared re-open this bitter wound. Shame on her! Fancy friends, relatives and schools apparently do not equal class. Horrible!
Cuckoo! Cuckoo! Cuckoo!
eeeyikes!
The interview was no big whoop but this lengthy rant by ms. siebel made her look a LOT worse (not to mention very defensive).
Memo to Jen: If you don't want to be in "the press" and hate "the press" don't date a public figure or work as an actress. Date some other guy who has a job that isn't in the public eye EVERY DAY.
And memo to Gavin's staff: teach Gavin's galpals press relations 101 so they don't embarass your boss like this.
I think the Chronicle needs to publish what the "..." is in "If people did research into the scandal ... the woman is the culprit."
That quote is as horrible as it is hilarious. What sort of research should we be doing? Every shred of public knowledge about Gavin and Ruby has been covered to death by SFist, the Chronicle, ABC-7, and CBS-5. Unless Jennifer has some inside knowledge of Ruby slipping Gav a roofy, I don't know what she's talking about.
If that rant was really her, she is digging her own grave here! Does anyone really believe she was forced into any sort of interview? Jen, you have the ability to utter two simple words in reference to the scandal..."no comment". Know it, learn it, live it.
Yikes! I shoulda hit refresh before posting that comment. If that is the real Jen (and it does sound like her), I can understand how it must suck to be caught up in this mess that she didn't make. And I can understand how a reporter could twist her words. I also like what she says about Girl Power, but you can't say:
in the same breath as you say:Ouch!*I* am the culprit. Aren't you?
I'm just so confused as to why she's got a stick up her butt about not being a "girl's girl." Does she not know she made an ass of herself refering to Gavin as the innocent one, or the best mayor in the world? Or that she's making it totally obvious that there's nothing but air in that pretty little head of hers?
Why is it such a big deal that Rita called you "not a girl's girl"?!
I think the way to clear up this misunderstanding is to have Jennifer Siebel sit down and do an interview with Rita.
Gee, I wonder why Clooney broke up with her?
She seems so stable! Gavin, I hope the sex is hot at least if you have to suffer through all this nonsense. This one makes the alien Scienco lady seem like a Rhodes scholar.
If that was really Jen posting that comment above, she's even more dimwitted than the article implied. I would have bought the line that she was "Naive" and they caught her "off guard with a follow up call" - EXCEPT that she went on to REPEAT the attacks on Ruby Tourk's repuation, HERE, where she is not "off guard."
Ms Siebel, if that is you, I think you owe Ruby an apology. Whatever you think you might know about her personal history based on GOSSIP that people repeat to you - did YOU know her? - you are doing EXACTLY what you complain about by PASSING ON THE GOSSIP in a PUBLIC FORUM.
Please, grow up.
I tried giving Jennifer a chance, I really did. I even sympathized for her while reading that interview. My heart filled with joy knowing Gavin was dating a relatively smart woman. I could even excuse the silly "he's innocent" or "the best mayor in the world" quotes, because, let's face it, women love their men. And when you're not that politically inclined, Gavin can come off as a good mayor. A great mayor, even.
But that comment she left (if it was truly her, and I have no reason to believe it wasn't) was nothing short of retarded. I mean...what the hell? Sleep deprivation and stupid phone calls are excusable... but come on! I've read more intelligent LiveJournal comments, and those are 14 year old girls talking.
Ya killed it Jen.
If that was really Jen posting that comment above, she's even more dimwitted than the article implied. I would have bought the line that she was "Naive" and they caught her "off guard with a follow up call" - EXCEPT that she went on to REPEAT the attacks on Ruby Tourk's repuation, HERE, where she is not "off guard."
Ms Siebel, if that is you, I think you owe Ruby, and the rest of San Francisco, an apology. "I have tried to see Ruby's side of the story but unfortunately everyone near to her has stories and says she is bad news." Whatever you think you might know about her personal history based on GOSSIP that people repeat to you - did YOU know her? - you are doing EXACTLY what you complain about by PASSING ON THE GOSSIP in a PUBLIC FORUM. How does that align with your high-minded statement about being a "girls girl" --
"we have so much power as women and yet it's taken away by stuff like this- gossip and mistruths. let's just let the past be in the past." Take your own advice, JEN, and quit repeating gossip. Apologize and move on. At least Gavin had the class to do that - you're just making things worse for him.
And this - "i shouldn't even be writing this but i hate the press "- Great, you should do really well with publicizing your film, then. Producers, take note.
Please, grow up.
hey Jennifer
I hope this brief affair (ahemmm,LOVE affair) with our famous mayor helps you land a real role.
I hope this brief affair (ahemmm,LOVE affair) with our famous mayor lasts long enough for him to help your 'production company' actually produce something.
No, actually, I dont. I hope we have ALL forgotten your name a year from now. He should have stayed with the 20 year old.... at least she was hot and seemed fun. You come across like a real pill.... it would suck having you as our 'first lady'.
byebye
I am appalled Jennifer Siebel's comments. The Mayor was an unwitting victim of a predatory woman?
The affair made my skin crawl - not because of the Mayor's betrayal of a trusted aide and friend - but because the affair was with an at-will employee who reported directly to him.
It is irrelevant that the affair was consensual, and ridiculous for the Mayor (or his proxies) to suggest that he has been victimized by his own employee. Sexual harrassment law has been developed to protect at-will employees from being manipulated into sexual encounters with their bosses, not the other way around. And for good reason. A supervisor, particularly one who is an elected official and a fiduciary of the public's trust, must avoid compromising situations with his staff members.
wow. the worst part of the whole thing is the completely inappropriate disclosure of how the incidents took place, including the state that ruby was in.
um, beyond being totally f-ed up that the mayor's new gal is disclosing such information, my other reaction is:
doesn't this information make the whole thing worse - that the mayor essentially took advantage of someone who was perhaps incapacitated physically, in addition to certainly having incapacitated judgement?
yikes.
Just when you think things can't get any worse out of the Newsom camp.. Thank you Jen. The greatest Mayor in America deserves nothing short of the greatest and purist girl in America. Wow! Ruby may have had her issues but you lowered yourself to your lovers level. That rant was nothing short of shameful. The last thing anyone wants to hear is you take a cheap shot at Tourk's family. Take a long look at your man. His history is more spotted than Ruby's dear. He is not a saint by a long shot. Ruby and Alex are good people who have been victimised by a sleazy politician with no soul.
It's as simple as this. You don't mess with your friend's wife.
I don't know if Jennifer Siebel really wrote this but if she did... geesh ! Ruby "showed up passed out outside his door ?" Oh, so this was all her fault... it's sort of like the thinking, well she was drunk and so she asked for it ? Wasn't the mayor drinking at the time as well ? It always takes two to tango !
If this is the real Jennifer, then she is even more naive than I thought. Go to some Al-anon meetings,for friends, family and significant others of alcoholics, honey. Keep the focus on yourself . I think you're in over your head and don't even realize it.
I'm applying to Stanford tomorrow. If this dolt can get in, I'll graduate Magna Cum Laude.
I just have to say THANK GOD FOR ALIX ROSENTHAL. What would we do without her expertise on all things? Keep it coming Alix! Halloween, Healthy Saturdays and now blonde bimbos.
I think that was really Charlie from Flowers for Algernon (early chapters).
That or Mayor Joe Quinby's girlfriend (You da
May-yer...?!)
Please confirm identity. For her sake.
Shame on you Jen. Shame on you Gavin. Mostly shame on you San Franciscans who reward this behavior with approval ratings. Look at your Muni, your traffic your cost of living and quality of life. They are all in the gutter right next to your beloved Mayor's morals and values. When will this man be judged by the quality of his performance and not by the quantity of hair gel? Loyalty has never been Gavin's strong point but why should it be at 70% approval. He can do what he wants -when he wants to do it -to whomever he chooses so long as he can get away with it. WAKE UP VOTERS. btw, Alix makes a very valid point above.
Steve Jones brings up another interesting angle in his post on the Guardian's blog:
"this relationship...was arranged by Newsom's political advisors ("after running a background check, one of the mayor's staffers invited her") and the Wilsey family...just as the news of Newsom dating a 20-year-old hostess broke and when the Rippey-Tourk affair was heading in that direction."
Was Siebel really screened by Gavin's handlers who were looking for a presentable girlfriend to staunch Gavin's 20 year-old "bimbo eruption"?
Okay, so my best friend's wife has shown up at my door drunk. It is simple, I put her to bed and I slept on the sofa. If they are that drunk it is pretty easy to let them pass out somewhere. In the morning we had a long talk, she went into counseling, with her husband, and they continue to be happily married. Nothing extraordinary on my part, I am sure it happens to many people.
This scandal is not about Ruby’s choice, it was bad, we know that, this is about Gavin’s choice to sleep with her. Now his girlfriend is trying to make him the victim. It is interesting that the Newsom folks can’t leave this alone. If they would stop talking about it, the scandal would die.
Gavin needs to upgrade to a woman smart enough not to repeat pillow talk. Loose lips sink ships, sweetie! If she hated the press, she wouldn't do these stupid interviews and comment on events that do not invole her. Shame on you both!
Yeah, what would cool hip Alix know about dating someone high up to further her career. Oh wait. new boyfriend, new politics!!
I hope for her sake that post was a fake. She couldn't possibly be that stupid...could she?
At this rate, the SFist message board will bring down the whole Newsom administration within months. Can someone please bait Heather Fong a little more so she can commit professional suicide too?
6 explicit uses of "shame" in this thread and counting. And how many armchair psychologists and amateur intelligence test proctors are reading SFist, anyway?
Weirdly, I feel dumber for having responded to this thread. Hmmm.
Seriously, how long until Gavin, himself, starts posting on this board? Now that he is sober and has a boring girlfriend, he is likely to spend a lot more time on the internet. Don't you think?
Okay, put away your knives children.
I can't believe how many people on here are attacking this young woman. Is it jealousy? Is it hate? Is it arrogance or some stupid, pretentious superiority complex you all have?
Some of you are so determined to hate on Gavin that you'll swing wildly on anyone who remotely sits in his corner. I mean, I GET this mentality, but it's still effed up when you try to take out Gavin's new girlfriend.
First of all: she's right. The real cheater here is Ruby "Make That A Double" Tourk, who clawed her way to the top and then screeched all the way to the bottom when the excesses of her career choice finally caught up with her. SHE ruined her marriage. SHE neglected her children.
Not Gavin. Not Jennifer.
Gavin made the worst decision I'm sure he's ever felt he made when he decided to hook up with Ruby Tourk, but all of us have done something equally wretched at one point or another - or at least have been affected by someone who has.
So put away your stones and knives, lest you turn them on yourselves.
I'm glad Jennifer called Ruby Tourk out.
Good for her.
However, there is something she left out of the interview. It's the part where she calls Ruby Tourk a "ho, a skank, and a selfish bitch".
Hopefully, they'll do a follow up.
Speak for yourself Kevin. Contrary to popular belief, most people have a moral compasss. Most people don't sleep with their close friend's wife or do things as equivalently bad.
Most people get through their entire lives NOT having acted like an asshole.
Its called values. Most of us don't. You have apparently extrapolated your own personal flaws and projected them onto the rest of us.
Hey Kevin
Are you, by chance, the best mayor in the whole wide world?
I dated a girl that went to Stanford business school with her. Based on the stories I heard regarding her conduct in class (which include a professor openly mocking her in class) and a handful of very brief interactions I had with her at social functions, I concluded that she is either:
1) dumb as a brick or
2) feels the need to act as dumb as a brick to get attention (she wouldn't be the first pretty girl I've met that did so).
She is also not remotely poor, though for some reason she liked the play that one off all the time in school as well. Hard to be convincing of that when you drive a Porsche, wear nothing but designer clothes, and live in a giant house in Atherton.
More than anything, I wonder what Gavin's deal is. Why does he always fall for the hollow social-climbing types? Homeboy needs to find himself a smart, sophisticated, self-confident, independent woman.