It’s quite something when you think about it. Whenever people dined at Aqua in San Francisco, they often opted for dishes like black cod or yellowfin tuna tartare.
Back in 2006, then-38-year-old Mayor Gavin Newsom had quite the moment when he left behind the number of 19-year-old hostess Brittany Mounts.
The age difference—she was 20 years younger—didn’t seem to bother him much, as he flaunted her at the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra’s opening gala that September.
“He made a lot of wrong choices,” a local editor recounted to ABC, reflecting on the unusual pairing. “Dating someone fresh out of college? That’s… interesting.”
Or maybe Newsom realized that a relationship with someone so young wouldn’t position him as a strong political figure. It’s worth noting that Mounts’ age on MySpace mysteriously shifted from 19 to 26 around that time, as the San Francisco Chronicle highlighted.
At that gala, priced at $1,600 a ticket, people had various opinions. A media outlet even referred to Mounts as a “youthful blonde” resembling Keira Knightley.
When they first met, Newsom was freshly divorced from his first wife, Kimberly Guilfoyle.
Shortly after their public debut, they appeared in a montage of socialites from a black-tie dinner dance, hosted by local figure Dede Wilsey.
Fast forward to their next public appearance, and it seemed that Newsom’s team was already distancing him from her.
When SF Gate inquired about a photo where Mounts appeared to be drinking wine, a spokesperson brushed it off, claiming, “If she had been drinking, the mayor wouldn’t have noticed,” adding that they attended the event separately. Later, pictures of her were removed, as per a Gawker article.
In classic San Francisco style, locals seemed more irritated by Mounts’ political affiliations than her being much younger than Newsom.
Concerns arose when her Republican registration came to light. “What was he thinking?” one local party member expressed, noting how few young female Republicans existed in the area.
Some, however, viewed this relationship as a pivotal event. Chris Daley, a former member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, noted that Newsom seemed “checked out” during this period, often absent more than other mayors before him.
Daley remarked it was a challenging time and even produced a satirical ad mimicking the elite’s disconnect from the public.
Now 58, Newsom has ascended through the political ranks, becoming governor in 2019, his term lasting until January 2027.
In his memoir, A Young Man in a Hurry, he reflects on those days, stating, “I saw myself as a single guy who happened to be mayor. If I had been level-headed, I would have reconsidered.”
Interestingly, he doesn’t mention Mounts in this new narrative. A spokesperson for Newsom described their relationship as simply “friends.”
He stated they only went on a few dates, despite what media coverage suggested.
As for Mounts, she chose not to comment and now works as a therapist under a different name, focusing on “men’s issues.”
Reflecting on her journey, she mentions starting her career around the same time as Newsom and has devoted herself to mending relationships.
Rep. Kevin Kiley has criticized Newsom for leaving out the details of this relationship, labeling it a lack of transparency.
“It makes sense he’d want to shape a narrative at odds with reality,” Kiley remarked, calling attention to Newsom’s ability for self-deception.
In his book, Newsom admits to other missteps, including an affair with Ruby Rippy Gibney, who was married to his campaign manager at that time. Newsom confessed to this indiscretion in 2007 after the manager resigned.
He also touched on his past relationship with actress Sofia Milos, claiming he ended it based on advice from tycoon Gordon Getty.
Ultimately, he moved on from Mounts too, eventually meeting Jennifer Siebel, a film director, on a blind date in October 2006.
Interestingly, their paths crossed again when Mounts covered the red carpet for a local publication, where Newsom didn’t miss the chance to greet her with a shoulder pat and a kiss on the cheek—a fleeting moment of connection before heading into the theater, leaving her on the other side of the velvet rope, quite literally separated from the stars.
