When the press heard news of an affair in his office, Newsom's girlfriend at the time publicly played down the fling, chalking it up to "a few nothing incidents." She was offered opportunities to speak, according to her explosive essay in Vanity Fair, including a potential memoir offer. Rippey recalled Harris, whom she called "a real girl's girl," allegedly telling her, "I wouldn’t say anything right now, Ruby. She reflected, realizing at the time she was still fresh into the emotional turbulence, "unable to make sense of anything, let alone speak clearly about it." Rippey resolved, "So I stayed silent."