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It's our de rigueur day-after-the-scandal post, where we compile all the links we can find about the thing we were all talking about yesterday and turn it into a post for the next day!
For those of you just tuning in -- here's the link to our original story, and here's a link to Jennifer Siebel's infamous comment (the one that the Chron has chosen not to print).
So before we get started, we just want to correct something in the record -- while we did make some light fun of Jennifer Siebel's houndstooth coat at Second Fake Question Time, we think Ms. Siegel is actually referring to a post by Fashion Correspondent SFist Elaine when she said in her comment that this correspondent shouldn't make fun of her clothes because she can't afford a nicer jacket. SFist Elaine, meanwhile, is looking for a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress on sale too.
Okay, back to the links. So hey, we made it on the front page of the Chronicle! But... for mayoral blog indiscretions again? It's like we only do one thing around here or something. Hey, we post about lots of other non-politics topics around here too, you know -- we're covering the Asian-American Film Festival this week! Stay tuned for that! Also -- check out the ChronBlog coverage if you want more comment-o-mania besides what we've got over here.
--Meanwhile, before chaos broke out, Jennifer posted a link to her commentary at SFLuxe. And hey, SFLuxe called us non-stylish! Ha! Guilty as charged! (Though again, please note that we never personally said Siebel needed a stylist -- and SFist Elaine is super cute.)
Links around the San Francisco blogosphere after the jump. Also -- the return of GavinWatch!
--SF Usual Suspects makes fun of our commenters for attacking anonymously. On the bright side, we actually made their link aggregator for the day! (Alex, if you want to link directly to Jennifer Siebel's comment, use this link.)
--Our good buddies at the SFWall and the Junto are on it -- though they mixed us up with Luke Thomas's Fog City Journal at the Junto (our pictures are not nearly as good as Luke's, and our gossip is never as fresh!), and Able Dart on the Wall is irritated to be talking about personalities instead of politics again.
--Calitics grumps kiddingly that if people want to have a meltdown online, that they do it on a Democratic chatboard every once in a while.
--SFPartyParty votes Jennifer their favorite Gavin Girlfriend ever. They also remind us that Gavin's in Chicago this week. You think the staff's told Gavin about Meltdown Siebel yet?
--....and finally, remember our beloved GavinWatch? No clips about Meltdown Siebel yet (alas) -- but they're having a relaunch party next week! March 22 at the Balazo Gallery, and they promises a new website and street campaign! Also -- all the GavinWatch YouTube clips are back. Yay! Rewatch the Riiiiicola clip they put together when things with Gavin and Jennifer were enjoying the romance of the Alps and reminisce.
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It looks like that necklace is the only thing holding Jennifer's head onto her little body.
And I hope they are going to eat that food. I have a feeling they probably just grabbed a few plates from Jan Wahl and shoved them in the girls' hands so it looked like they have appetites.
Poor Jan Wahl...
The lights are on, but nobody's home.
Does anyone think Gavin is going to dump her after this? Or will he display more questionable judgment by staying with someone stupid enough to make these kinds of damaging comments about him publicly?
I'm looking forward to the return of the blue tie.
Just a quick comment -- congrats on the mention in the Chronicle, but isn't it a bit of a stretch to link to "our original story"?
The Chronicle had the story. You reposted their story, with snark. With all the money newspapers are losing and all the abuse they take, it seems only fair to remember that this started in the Chronicle, not at SFist...you didn't have a "story."
SFist Rita looks stylish to me (and even better without tons of make-up).
SFist may not have had a story at first, but after Ms. Siebel's meltdown on this website, in which she all but said the Mayor raped a drunk ("passed out") Ruby Tourk, they do!
I agree! I think Rita looks great. Those are some stylish glasses. And Rita's SMART!
Isn't reposting stories with snark the whole point of blogs? And isn't it a testament to the blogger to get this kind of reaction from their take on a story?
This is the second political meltdown I've seen here so far and both were admirable. So SFist, can you get to work on Karl Rove next? I know he's not from SF, but it would be a true public service.
Hey, no snark, no readership. FIRST rule of blogs.
I like her. I think she's sexy.
I wouldn't trade her for any of the foxy Green babes, Krissy Keefer included.
What's the story on the Chron being willing to post just some of what JS wrote?
What happened to the "...when she showed up passed out outside of his door." portion of the comment?
Is that too damning to print?
Despite JS posting it in a public forum?
Does it sound too much like date rape of a catastrophically ill substance abusing subordinate married to another of your subordinates?
I mean, not to put too fine a point on the situation as JS described it. But we are assured that RRP is the culprit. Huh?!?!
Remind me again why we care about her???
Jen looks great there. That's a nice color on her. I really can understand her wanting to protect her BF, but she really did a number on herself with her mean comments. I'm sure Alex Tourk might have a few adjectives for her and Gavin, but I suspect he has enough class, manners and dignity to keep them to himself
No Snark, No Peace!
No Snark, No Peace!
-
Yes, I know this rehash is with tongue firmly planted in cheek, but for those who won't pick this up, it sure seems like SF is a completely provincial backwater by getting all riled up about this.
OMG, a puppy!
Unlike Jen Siebel, MBA, I'm sure Rita can spell "saddened" correctly. That's all the proof I need. Team Rita!
"I wouldn't trade her for any of the foxy Green babes, Krissy Keefer included."
Wait, Krissy Keefer is a WOMAN??
SF IS a provincial backwater and Rita has a penchant for exploiting other peoples pain for her own amusement.
Check out her posts on Gavin's alcoholism and the Typhoon in Manila for some great examples.
The typhoon post was on Nov 30th 2006.
RE SFJUNTO - "They" didn't mix you up with Fog City. One poster typed the wrong thing and then corrected himself.
Yeah, I'd have to go with Team Rita too.
However, I think Jennifer was right in calling a spade a spade. It was selfish and irresponsible for RRT to drag Gavin down with her. Recovery isn't about hurting other people - it's about stopping the hurt.
Good job, Ruby.
Weren't satisfied with ruining your own life and the life of your family?
Kevin:
I'm guessing your comment means that RRT's admission to her husband about her affair was "selfish and irresponsible". I disagree. That was all a private matter. RRT didn't send out a press release. AT publicly stated that his resignation was due to 'personal reasons'.
The whole thing hit the press because -- from what I can tell -- most everyone near the mayor's office knew about the affair, as did any local political reporter.
Gav "dragged" himself down to sleep with his subordinate, allegedly passed out in front of his door. They're both culpable for their personal problems, but the Tourks didn't make this public.
Honestly, what do you expect from a blog with main categories like "billionaires" and "boats?"
Perhaps Ms. Siebel is showing solidarity with the impoverished tribespeople in Africa in her eating habits. Personally, I think it's quite a waste to be living at least part-time in SF what with all the fabulous food available. C'mon Jen, a few bites won't hurt you, you'll like it!
Let us forget the sad episode of Gavin Newsom & Ruby-Ripley-Tourk. It is history. Let Ruby and Alex rejuvenate their relations. Let Mayor Gavin & Jennifer do what they want to do. It is their own private business. Mayor Gavin is a sincere honest public person, has a dream about San Fracisco. Let us march forward with him and help Mayor Gavin Newsom promote his ambitious agenda- basics of potholes, Munii, city-wide WI-FI access,universal health care, major development, restoration of public housing, getting more homeless off streets, police department reforms and more and more to develop a more beautiful San Francisco so that our next generation can be proud of us.
Why the hell does anyone even care?? Every one of them is nothing but two-bit sluts anyway!!
RRT is obviously an attention-seeking person who wants the world to view her as a victim of Mayor Newsom and alcohol, so that her husband will forgive her and take her back. There was no reason that her "affair" with Newsom even had to become public knowledge. That was selfish on her part. And it is also very selfish on Siebel's part to continue bringing up a scandal that was best left in the dignified way Newsom left it weeks ago. Regardless of what credentials she might have or how she looks in expensive clothing, she come across as a childish, insecure, jealous birdbrain who doesn't understand that not all publicity is good publicity. The most dignified thing for her to do now would be to unplug her computer, fire her publicist, and concentrate on her career, rather than getting involved in petty online squabbles.
And the most dignified thing Mayor Newsom could do right now would be to dump this airhead, stop dating blonde socialite bimbo's, and maybe attempt to force those he dates to sign a non-disclosure agreement mandating they cannot speak to the press about his personal matters without his consent. Or better yet, he could try dating women who aren't perfectly-manicured socialites who mistakenly think having a lot of money means the same thing as being classy.
brijlal [comment #22],
please. you can't be serious. gavin's "ambitious agenda" is to move on to higher office. he is an incompetent lightweight whose election was bought for him by rich people who tell him what to do and what to say. you need to learn a little more about what gavin is doing in room 200 in city hall than just simply what the chronicle is telling you. most of those items that you list on his virtuous and "ambitious agenda" were things he either had nothing to do with originally but shamelessly took all the credit for (like universal healthcare) or which he has made big public statements about but on which he has actually done no work (like police reform). personally i hope this new wave of the scandal, which by the way was single-handedly created by his girlfriend --not any of us-- actually sullies the mayor this time, because he's a genuine embarrassment to this city and he needs to be nudged / forced out one way or the other.
yes brijblal lets forget this whole sad episode and elect a competent grown up for mayor this fall.
"...Jen's billionaire uncle, Tom Siebel, is on the board at Stanford University-case closed!..."
Regardless if Siebel is her uncle or her second cousin, I'd bet money she listed him as a reference on her Stanford application.
The lack of character this woman displays is breathtaking.
How does a barely workiing actress afford the student loan payments from $100,000+ student debt she racked up at Stanford?
I'm feeling ill as usual about this crowd....
Rhinestone Grrl, [comment #24] i agree with most of what you say, however you continue to spread the myth that ruby tourk made the affair "public knowledge." she told her husband about the affair -- that's it -- an affair that everyone within a 7 mile radius of city hall knew about, except her husband. she likely felt she had to be the one to tell me before he heard it elsewhere.
as a result of learning about the affair, her husband quit his job. neither alex nor ruby made ANY public statements about the affair. of course when Alex quit his job everyone knew why, so gavin had to admit the affair by holding a press conference stating "everything you heard is true" which, incidentally many of us took as a confirmation of widely reported cocaine use as well, but i guess he didn't really mean EVERYTHING.
so you see, all ruby tourk did was tell her husband about an affair she had. how is that "attention-seeking" and "selfish?" i knew that wasn't the main point of your post but i'm tired of people saying that ruby tourk blew the lid on the scandal for some self-serving reason. it's simply not true.
OMFG, this is the bestest SF thread evAH!
Would someone please start a "hump, dump or marry" poll?
Has Newsom made a comment about all this yet?
Is he going to?
I'm pretty sure that Newsom is under orders (from his PR flunkies) to keep his mouth shut. Any direct commentary from him is a no-win situation.
Will he speak about this matter? It would be smart if he didn't, but history shows that politicians don't always do what's "smart".
[27] "...she likely felt she had to be the one to tell *me* before he heard it elsewhere..." [emphasis mine]
So is this a weird brain fart, or the inadvertent admission that we are seeing yet another celebrity poster on sfist?
I think it was a brain fart.
I don't see where people are getting that Ruby is seeking attention or that she did anything improper after her affair. Neither she nor her husband have said a word in public about anything. They've been the only people with any class in this mess. I hope they can salvage their marriage.
Gavin? It's like he has Bill Clinton's sex drive and George Bush's leadership abilities. I wish it were the other way around.
You think anyone will start a DalyWatch so we can hear about Chris Daly sitting around doing nothing for his district? That would be cool. I picture a great youtube video of Daly walking down the street carrying his kid and holding hands with his wife as they step over feces, urine, blood, drunks, syringes and homeless. Background music would be easy. My choice would be: Zippity do dah zippity day my oh my what a wonderful day.or maybe everything's coming up roses? Excellent, No?
This is only news because no one else seems to have pointed it out earlier - Rippy-Tourk's own reckless behavior is and was a reasonable question mark. "Victims" of substance abuse don't get a free pass from bad behavior or poor judgment just because they involve others who might have even more to lose. Ms. Siebel rightly calls out this issue without victimizing Rippy-Tourk, but then poorly defends her actions by being drawn into a discussion of specific facts in a blog. The righteous but misplaced indignation that Rippy-Tourk apparently displayed behind the scenes (see Matier & Ross report) is indicative of the kind of mess that Gavin and the rest of his personal friends have become mired in for ever having associated with this kind of scrabble. Socioeconomic standing and differences aside, the regular world is not one big Jerry Springer episode where the vulnerable are victimized by the well-regarded and good looking. Rippy-Tourk should not be celebrated for having not spoken publicly about this former affair - she is at the center of it and playing a thinly-veiled "victim" role, much like the fan-dancer her husband now knows her to be.
Why is Ruby's behavior up for judgment?
She's never said anything about her substance abuse, much less tried to excuse anything by it.
That's the mayor you're thinking of.
She doesn't need to be punished (except maybe by her husband) because she's not a public person. What do you want to do, stone her? This isn't Pakistan.
Calling her out was not brave of Jennifer, it was sleazy (and libelous?).
And, of all things, in the name of "two sides to every story." Please remember that it's true we've only heard one side of this story: his. (and now his again, via his girlfriend)
When have we ever heard ruby's side -- either directly or through her PR guy, or Alex or a friend or anyone?
I have a feeling Ruby's side differs considerably from all the innuendo and direct assault on her character that's appeared in the media.
Just because you haven't heard her side doesn't mean that his side is true.
Sure, Ruby's behavior is a reasonable question mark, but it's not one for Siebel to judge publicly in the media. Especially when her version of events, true or not, just made Gavin look even worse. "Oh, so my boyfriend messed around with a passed out chick! No big deal!"
This is cringeworthy. Yet somehow, I can't stop gossiping about it.
"Nobody knows.....the troubles I've seen....nobody knows the sorrow......"
The Daphne Zuniga singinging that, in Spaceballs. That's one.
Zuniga was in Spaceballs along with Bill Pullman. That's two.
Pullman was in Sleepless in Seattle with Tom Hanks. That's three.
And Hanks was in Apollo 13 with...Kevin Bacon. That's four!
So are you saying Han Shin's Bacon score is 6?
Another vote for Team Rita. I'm a recent convert to SFist, and it's because of her. Keep the smart snark coming.
You know you've made it in Hollywood when you take a picture with Daphne Zuniga. She's THE SURE THING and that was 22 years ago...
Dalywatch should also include his status as a condo-owning limousine liberal.
When is Kimberly comming home Gavin!
Daphne is Hot
Save the Bumblebee, Save the World!
the orange tans hurt my eyes.
Watch Jennifer Siebel nude at her lost sex tape!