Feature 8.10.2005

AS THE GAVIN NEWSOM-KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE ROMANCE ENDS, WE LOOK BACK AT FIVE YEARS OF GLORY
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OMETIME SOON, THE DIVORCE OF
MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM AND KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE —
postponed recently due to unspecified “legal issues” — will at last be finalized, and thus will
end the saga of San Francisco’s Camelot couple, provided the lawyers can sort out whose
eyeliner is whose. It will be a sad day for the city, swept up as we were in the five-year
romance of Gamberly that unfolded in both the society pages and the political columns
(and even occasionally in Matier & Ross). Today, we cast our eye back at those five years.
However you feel about the divorce, no matter whose side you take, there’s no denying one
thing: Throughout it all, in love and out, Gavin and Kimberly were always perfect dolls.
S
1994
Gavin, a successful small businessman, and Kimberly, a lingerie model turned prosecutor,
meet at a political fundraiser at PlumpJack Cafe. Although they’re dating other people, the
attraction is undeniable. She is “beautiful and bright,” Gavin would later sigh — much, much
more than just a pretty face.
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Gavin, now a San Francisco supervisor, and Kimberly begin dating, a boldfaced
romance that quickly becomes the talk of the town. Despite the slavish attention
devoted to San Francisco’s new power couple, few get to see the little joys they share, the quiet, intimate moments of love in full bloom.
2000
SUMMER 2000:
It’s not all wine and roses, however. Gavin’s political ambitions and
business ventures — chief among them a partnership with childhood pal Billy Getty — sometimes leave little room for Kimberly.
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two marry in a classy and regal affair, with 500 guests — includDECEMBER 2001:The
ing Gordon Getty, Ed Asner, Danielle Steel, and Willie Brown —
dabbing at their eyes. Even so, there are already signs of problems to come.
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NOVEMBER 2003:
Gavin is elected
mayor and soon
becomes a national figure when he allows same-sex couples to marry. As his profile rises, the young mayor —
known as “San Fran Gavin” to some — reaps the various
accouterments of fame.
WINTER 2004:
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The marriage goes bicoastal, with Kimberly living part time in New York for her job
as a Court TV commentator. The romance persists, but now with roaming fees.
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MARCH 2004:
With her career taking off, Kimberly “is clearly riding a rocket,”
the Chronicle exults.
SEPTEMBER 2004:
Perhaps prompted by rumors of a split, San Francisco’s first couple poses provocatively for Harper’s Bazaar. The photo spread,
which runs under the headline “The New Kennedys,” is greeted with embarrassed titters. The city is
scandalized. But the city doesn’t know the half of it.
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OCTOBER 2004:
Kimberly doesn’t help matters with
her speech at a gay-rights benefit in
New York. “Is he hung?” she asks
toward the end of her remarks, and
then she answers her own question.
“Yeah.”
JANUARY 2005:
Our Camelot crumbles. Gavin and
Kimberly announce their divorce.
The news is greeted with sadness
and disappointment in most parts of
the city
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JUNE 2005:
Meanwhile, Kimberly appears to be
in line for a promotion. According
to one report, CNN executives are
giving her a very close look
JULY 2005:
But what is this? Even with the ink
drying on their divorce, and the tears
of a heartbroken city still fresh,
Gavin and Kimberly are seen gallivanting about town — at Dolce, at
Bliss Bar, at Enrico’s, at Tosca —
looking happy as ever. Was
Splitsville just a pit stop? What could
Kimberly, having reportedly moved
on to former CNN anchor Bill Hemmer, want from Gavin?
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