Report: Gavin Newsom Never Went to Rehab for Alcoholism

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the frontrunner to be California’s next governor, reportedly did not go to rehab for alcoholism in 2007, which he blamed for an affair he had that ended his first marriage to Fox News anchor Kimberly Guilfoyle.

“No, there’s no rehab. I just stopped,” Newsom told the Sacramento Bee. “There was no treatment, no nothing related to any of that stuff. I stopped because I thought it was a good thing to stop.” Newsom still reportedly drinks on occasion.

The Sacramento Bee noted several publications that reported Newsom had gone to rehab, one of which even reported that he had attended an “outpatient rehabilitation program.”

The New York Times reported in February 2007 that he planned to “begin outpatient treatment at a local rehabilitation program.” The San Francisco Examiner reported in February 2008 that he went to an “outpatient rehabilitation program.” A 2015 profile in The New Yorker titled “Gavin Newsom’s Long, Long Campaign for Governor,” said he “went into rehab.”

It is unclear whether Newsom contacted the publications to inform them of their error and correct the record.

In February 2007 Newsom reportedly apologized for the affair at a news conference, and said it “is something that I have to live with and something that I am deeply sorry for. I am also sorry that I’ve let the people of San Francisco down.”

According to the Bee, he announced he was seeking treatment for alcohol abuse four days later in a statement that read,”My problems with alcohol are not an excuse for my personal lapses in judgment. Upon reflection with friends and family this weekend, I have come to the conclusion that I will be a better person without alcohol in my life.”

Since that dark chapter in his life, Newsom says, he has made changes for the better and has repeatedly stated that he’s learned from his mistakes, which he will not repeat.

In February, Breitbart News reported that Newsom opened about his past affair and said, “I acknowledged it. I apologized for it. I learned an enormous amount from it.”

Adelle Nazarian is a politics and national security reporter for Breitbart News. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter