Jennifer Siebel Newsom

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Jennifer Lynn Siebel Newsom, born June 19, 1974, in San Francisco, is an American documentary filmmaker and actress. Since 2019 she has been the first partner of California, the wife of Governor Gavin Newsom. Earlier, she served as the second lady of California and the first lady of San Francisco.

Her films focus on gender and how society sees women and men. Miss Representation (2011) examines how the media underrepresents women in power. The Mask You Live In (2015) looks at how American culture defines masculinity. She also directed The Great American Lie and Fair Play (2022). She co-founded The Representation Project, an organization that works to end gender stereotypes.

Siebel Newsom grew up in Ross, California. Her father, Kenneth F. Siebel Jr., was an investment manager, and her mother, Judy Siebel, co-founded the Bay Area Discovery Museum. She is the second oldest of five sisters. A tragic accident when she was six killed her older sister, Stacy, and she says she still feels survivor’s guilt. She attended Stanford University, earning a BA in Latin American studies in 1996 and an MBA in 2001, and she also studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater.

After working with Conservation International, she moved to Hollywood to pursue acting, with roles on TV shows including Life, Mad Men, Strong Medicine, and Numb3rs. Miss Representation premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and later drew attention from Oprah Winfrey.

She met Gavin Newsom on a blind date in 2006 and they married in 2008. They have four children and have lived in San Francisco, Kentfield, and Fair Oaks. Politically, she was registered as a Republican early on, later changing to No Party Preference and then Independent.

Siebel Newsom has publicly spoken as one of Harvey Weinstein’s accusers in the 2022 Los Angeles trial, saying Weinstein raped her in 2005. The trial produced mixed outcomes for such charges. In 2021, actress Rose McGowan accused her of pressuring McGowan to stay quiet about Weinstein. She is also a second cousin once removed of Thomas Siebel.