OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the wife of California Governor Gavin Newsom, testified in the Harvey Weinstein trial and revealed that her husband’s cheating scandal had compelled her to seek the aid of the disgraced Hollywood mogul — two years after he allegedly assaulted her.
Harvey Weinstein’s legal defense team intends to reveal her email to the fallen Hollywood powerbroker as purported evidence that their sexual encounter had been consensual.
As reported by the Daily Mail, Jennifer Siebel Newsom claims that Weinstein had raped her in 2005 after ‘luring’ her to a hotel room.
The incident in question was a year prior to dating Newsom; but in 2007, only a year later, he was exposed in a sex scandal. As Mayor of San Francisco, Newsom reportedly had an affair with Ruby Rippey Tourk, who was the wife of one of his senior advisers.
This is when Jennifer, who was his girlfriend at the time, reached out to Weinstein to ask for advice on the embarrassing situation. Her request for help came out in the filing submitted by Weinstein’s lawyers on Monday. The attorneys claim that the email proves that their prior encounter had been consensual.
“Of all things you’d think a woman that is raped by Harvey Weinstein wouldn´t do, it’s ask him how to deal with a sex scandal,” attorney Mark Werksman argued.
However, Deputy District Attorney Marlene Martinez countered: “‘I´m not sure how Mr. Werksman knows’ how a rape victim would behave.”
“They do not react in a matter how someone who has not been raped would think,” Martinez added.
According to the charges, Weinstein allegedly raped Siebel Newsom at a Beverly Hills hotel in 2005.
Her attorney Elizabeth Fegan argued: “Like many other women, my client was sexually assaulted by Harvey Weinstein at a purported business meeting that turned out to be a trap. She intends to testify at his trial in order to seek some measure of justice for survivors, and as part of her life’s work to improve the lives of women.”
In a 2017 article in the Huffington Post, Siebel Newsom described the incident. She blames ‘toxic masculinity’ for creating ‘rape culture.’
“In my documentary film The Mask You Live In, which looks at the dangers of toxic masculinity, Jackson Katz says bluntly that ‘we have a rape culture. What that means is that individual rapists aren’t just crawling out of the swamp, they’re being produced by our culture,’ a culture that knowingly devalues, demeans, and objectifies women and girls,” she argues. “A culture that tells men that their masculinity and the validity of their identity is tied to their sexual prowess and physical strength. A culture that normalizes ‘violence against women,’ nearly erasing the male perpetrators. A culture that values money and power above all else, privileging a man’s success over his crimes. A culture that tells us to just “shut up” and preserve the status quo.”
“We must change this culture, our current culture,” she continued. “The wreckage left in the wake of predatory men is vast, and we’re all affected by it. So we must take responsibility for our role in changing it.
Gavin Newsom’s alleged conduct as the Mayor of San Francisco appears to fit the bill of a “predatory man,” who used his power to coax a married female subordinate into a sexually illicit relationship.
The New York Times reported on the sex scandal, which was confirmed by Newsom himself.
“In a fast-unfolding scandal with all the sex and betrayal of a tawdry novel, Mayor Gavin Newsom admitted Thursday that he had an affair with his campaign manager’s wife,” the Times reported. “Mr. Newsom said he had a short-term sexual relationship with Ruby Rippey-Tourk, the wife of Alex Tourk, who until Wednesday was running his re-election campaign.”
“The affair, first reported Thursday by The San Francisco Chronicle, apparently took place in late 2005 while Ms. Rippey-Tourk, 34, worked as Mr. Newsom’s appointments secretary, and while Mr. Newsom, 39, was in the throes of a divorce,” the report added.
“Everything you’ve heard and read is true,” Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, told reporters who crammed into his office for a news conference. “And I am deeply sorry about that.”
Jennifer Siebel appears to have forgiven Newsom, who happens to be one of the most powerful governors in the United States. While she is now in a courtroom decrying the sexual misconduct of Harvey Weinstein, it turns out that her own husband has exhibited the same ‘predatory’ conduct.
