In early June 2025, amid protests aimed at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in Los Angeles, a photograph claimed to show California Gov. Gavin Newsom's wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, shopping in Beverly Hills. A number of posts on X claimed she was wearing a handbag and shoes worth thousands of dollars, while a Daily Mail article stated she was shopping for skincare.
(X user @RichardGrenell)
While the above photograph was real, meaning it was not the product of artificial intelligence (AI) software or other digital editing tools, the posts misrepresented its context. The governor's office confirmed that the Daily Mail had published the photograph with the wrong date. The photo showed Siebel Newsom shopping in January 2025, not June 2025. The Daily Mail also issued a correction acknowledging that the photo was from January. As such, we have rated this image miscaptioned.
We have reached out to the agency the Daily Mail credited for the image to confirm the exact date the photograph was taken and will update this post accordingly.
As the photograph spread online, Newsom's office issued a response on X:
This story is an outright lie and needs to be retracted entirely.
The photo is from months ago — when the first partner was picking up skin care products.
She is recovering from a past skin cancer diagnosis, you SICK people.
Siebel Newsom previously revealed a facial scar from her skin cancer surgery in a March 2023 Instagram video.
The Daily Mail article began with the following claim:
Her husband is fighting for his life politically for the second time this year while another crisis grips their state.
But California's First Lady Jennifer Siebel Newsom shrugged off the chaos on Monday. Jennifer, 50, spent the day picking up skincare on her 'personal time'.
On June 10, the photograph caption showing Siebel Newsom shopping stated, "California First Lady Jennifer Newsom was spotted leaving the One Beverly Hills complex in LA on Monday."
However, by June 11, the Daily Mail had amended the caption to state, "California First Lady Jennifer Newsom was spotted in Beverly Hills in January."
An update at the bottom of the article stated:
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated Jennifer Siebel Newsom was shopping in Beverly Hills on Monday. The photographs of Ms Siebel Newsom in Beverly Hills were in fact taken in January.
The photos of Siebel Newsom spread after ICE agents conducted a series of raids across the Los Angeles, California, area, resulting in days of protests. After the protests began, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered the mobilization of the National Guard to quell demonstrations, despite Newsom's objections. Newsom has since filed a lawsuit against Trump, saying calling in the military to the state without his consent was a violation of the U.S. Constitution.