Gavin Newsom called ‘embarrassingly handsome’ in cringeworthy Vogue spread, writer admits to not asking hard questions

Governor Gavin Newsom’s softball Vogue interview is long on admiration and admittedly short on answers to issues that actually matter to Californians.

“Let’s get this out of the way: He is embarrassingly handsome, his hair seasoned with silver, at ease with his own eminence as he delivers his final State of the State address,” gushed the Vogue reporter in her opening line.

The piece then shifts to Newsom’s recent political pushes — from trying to force President Trump to pull the National Guard out of California to Proposition 50 — along with his team’s new social-media strategy that openly mimics Trump’s playbook.

Governor Gavin Newsom’s softball Vogue interview is long on admiration and admittedly short on answers to issues that actually matter to Californians. AP

Vogue tapped Annie Leibovitz to photograph Newsom for the puff piece which also taps into his relationship with wife Jennifer Siebel.

“I’m a stuff-everywhere person; he has defined piles,” Siebel told Vogue. “When he cooks, he cleans as he cooks. Dishes in the dishwasher—though I don’t always agree with how he puts them in,” she added.

“Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery” is the title of Newsom’s book, is set for release this month, and the Vogue interview offers a brief look into what readers can expect — including his previously known childhood struggle with dyslexia and relationship with the ultra-wealthy Getty family.

Newsom also discusses his decision to interview Charlie Kirk.

“I don’t share his politics. I don’t like the way he talked down to people. I don’t like what he said about the gay community and minorities. The purpose was to discuss why the hell does he have so much influence? Wake up. There’s 40 percent or whatever it is in this country that feels deeply differently than we do, and we need to understand this movement and not be so quick to dismiss it. Divorce is not an option. So what are we going to do about this?” he said.

However, when it comes to the hard-hitting issues that so many Californians care about, the interview self-admittedly leaves a lot of those out.

“Gavin Newsom does have the capacity to surprise. You can’t say that about many politicians of his stature—or that their minds are still pliable. There were topics I didn’t get to discuss with him—the LA wildfires, contraction and corporate consolidation in Hollywood, homelessness, the coming AI apocalypse, to name a few—but where we did range, I saw a man who likes spitballing, trying ideas on for size,” the journalist writes.