A prominent Getty is back in the news for unflattering reasons, as a new lawsuit blames Vanessa Getty’s distracted driving for a March 2024 car wreck that allegedly left another driver with a “traumatic brain injury.”

If you have not been keeping up with the Gettys lately, we will do our best to channel SFist’s late 2000’s-era obsession with the Getty family, often breathlessly detailed in Miss Bigelow’s “Social City By the Numbers” posts. In the high society party image below (from ahem, Getty Images), Vanessa Getty is on the far left, standing next to Dede Wilsey’s son Todd Traina.

Vanessa, or “Nessie” as we once called her, is not to be confused with her niece, the now 30-year-old Ivy Getty who got married in an opulent City Hall ceremony and divorced the dude not long after. (Here are the two of them pictured together in 2023 at Gordon Getty's 90th birthday). Vanessa Getty is 53 and married into the Getty family in 1999, she does some philanthropic work with the arts and animal rescue, and Kamala Harris is godmother to one of her kids.

But all is not charmed at the moment in Vanessa Getty’s world. The SF Standard reports that Vanessa Getty has been sued over a car accident she allegedly caused in March 2024, with the plaintiff claiming Getty’s distracted driving left her with a “traumatic brain injury” and lasting orthopedic issues.

The crash happened March 28, 2024, somewhere on Divisadero Street. Getty’s Porsche Taycan allegedly crashed into the parked Mercedes-Benz CLK 550 as that car’s owner Mary Riley was getting into the car, and Riley’s attorney claims Getty was at fault.    

“Suddenly and without warning a vehicle driven by Defendant Vanessa Louise Getty violently crashed into Plaintiff’s parked vehicle,” the lawsuit says, per the Standard.

The Standard also got a statement from Riley’s attorney. “According to the police report, Ms. Getty told the officer that she had been distracted because she was looking for her glasses,” that lawyer Quinton Cutlip told the Standard. “Ms. Getty was negligent and was apologetic at the scene.”

The SF Fire Department confirms that a crash did happen at this location and date, with one person being hospitalized, and both vehicles being towed. Riley’s attorney says she “continues to receive treatment and care for injuries she suffered in the collision.”

The lawsuit was filed this past Wednesday, June 18, and asks for unspecified monetary damages. This is just a civil suit from the injured other driver, and it seems no charges were ever filed over the incident.

Related: Vanessa Getty Models The Shorts We'll All Be Wearing This Year [SFist]

Top image: Vanessa Getty attends the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 02, 2025 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

President Obama will be in town on Tuesday, according to BCN (via Mercury News, to campaign on behalf of U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee at a reception at the Fairmont Hotel, followed by a lavish dinner at the manor of billionaire philanthropists Ann and Gordon Getty.

Tickets for the Fairmont bash will run between $250 and $2,000. A seat at chez Getty will cost a cool $17,600.

On Wednesday, Obama will tour Solyndra, a solar panel manufacturing plant in Fremont, and then make remarks to workers about jobs, the economy, green energy, Michelle's new look -- stuff like that.

Robert Downey Jr., star of such blockbusters as Chances Are and Only You stopped by Ann and Gordon Getty's fortress last night. Along with gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, the ruling Getty duo hosted a party for Downey Jr. to benefit Oakland School for the Arts. (If the mood should strike, you can donate here.)

Esteemed photographer Drew Altizer was there, of course, and snapped loads of shots from the fancy-pants party too exclusive for you. You can view said images right here.

Oh God.

SF Chronicle's City Brights, a last-grasp kind of web-log that features local "luminaries" writing about their mental bowel movements, has a new member to the team. Two of them, actually: Peter and Billy Getty, marginally famous heirs to the Getty fortune. And aside from bringing the likes of Vanessa Getty (San Francisco's real First Lady) to public consciousness, their contributions to life have, at best, been minimal.

Their latest minimal effort is called "What the Butler Didn't See" They write about being rich but not that rich (if you know any SF society ilk, this is one of the first things they feel the need to tell you), talk about having their own private box at AT&T Park (which they simply loathe), getting pooped on by a underaged sex slaves, or whatever it is rich folk do.

Here's a sample:

By the way: there are slews of people richer than we are, just in this neighborhood. We're more famous for being rich than we really are rich. But we have enough to belong to the leisure class, meaning we get to spend very little of our time doing anything we don't feel like, and we have means to sample, if not to gorge on, pleasures that most people, sad to say, won't likely ever share in — things like yacht trips and safaris, ludicrously expensive wine, and private jet travel.

As Gawker pointed out today, their Ben Affleck-poking-fun-at-his-own-image-on-SNL-ish self awareness shtick isn't doing anyone any favors. Read Bill's bio if you want to throw up. (In the their defense, though, neither Bill nor Peter front that they adore going to poopholes like Zeitgeist, or claim that they really, really want to help the SF hobo population. So, you know, there's that.)

And, yes, we're jealous of their comparatively massive wealth. And, yeah, we'll probably read them on a regular basis.

Oh God part II: SFAppeal has word that SFGate also disabled the comments, so that the Getty's petal-soft feelings aren't hurt by the riffraff. To which we say: Grow a pair, boys. We promise you'll be the better for it. (For reals, Chron/Getty brothers, you need to turn them on; it's a blog, not the VIP room at Le Club.) And SFBG's Tim Redmond weighs in on it too.

Speaking of backlash, the Mayhill Fowler assault is percolating at a gentle boil. You paranoid wheels-within-wheels political fans out there will be happy to know that, apparently, stellar journalist and master of the MP3 recorder Mayhill Fowler is totally ">out to get Obama. How so? Well, because she's wealthy, her husband's lawfirm knows a guy who knows someone who met someone who likes McCain, and she's the devil reincarnated. Or something like that.

Don't believe us? Check out the latest tidbit from our anonymous tip section:

Re: Mayhill Fowler.

The event in Marin (sic) was hosted by a client of her wealthy attorney husband's lawfirm The husband is a declared McCain supporter. It is no stretch to imagine the usual RNC regulars are manipulating once again the democratic party. They contribute under Fowler's name to Obama, she "claims" she is unlike her husband and ardent supporter and then has been blasting Obama from Under the Bus. How long will the Dems allow the RNC to do this after the last two elections. Wake up!

Incidentally, many of us from Oakland's Head Royce School know Mayhill as an elitist, selfish, sef- aggrandiser (sic). She never changed.

Elitist, selfish, and self-aggrandizing? Sounds like the perfect best friend to us.

The backlash has started. A few are livid over Barack Obama's surreptitious statements about the poor, armed, and God-fearing that he made over at the Getty manse; others are going into hysterics over ABC's treatment of Barack Obama during the this week's debate. (Actually, some of it was inanely amusing, which, most important of all, made for fantastic television. Check out Ms. Nash McCabe of Pennsylvania [at 1:46] asking Obama if he "believes in the American flag." Because: what?)

Anyway, indie power couple Ralph Nader and Matt Gonzalez are also in the running for the Oval Office. Yep, still making a go of it, those two. And Gonzalez recently sat down with the inappropriately punctuated Democracy Now! to chat. Gonzalez reveals his thoughts about Barack Obama, voting record accountability, and more. He also, not surprisingly, doesn't like anyone who's running for POTUS at the moment. (Besides Nader, that is.) Read the TLDR interview in its entirety here, listen to it here, or watch it here.

But wait, there's more: in addition to joining a family that refers to themselves as a "team," you--a "highly poised, polished, professional, and articulate" cad--will also conduct interviewing, hiring, firing, scheduling, resolving issues, and performance reviews of all household staff; be able to make all bill payments through Quicken (heh); act a grease monkey to their many fine automobiles; help their little brats out at school; assist in the maintenance of organization throughout household (i.e., labeling and organizing CDs, toy-bins, pantry, garage, storage locker etc.); make numerous trips to the pharmacy under an alias (we'll assume), and be this Marina/Cow Hollow clan's self-starting doormat.

And all this and more must be accomplished between a tight 15 to 20 hour week schedule. A firm grasp of reality, it seems, is not a qualification.

But the questions remains: whose family will you get to be a part of? Whose children born into what dynasty will get to call you "mom" or "dad" until you're fired for dipping into the Xanax jar or blowing papa in the conservatory? All these questions and more can be found out if you apply here. We're hoping it's a gig for Vanessa; otherwise, you're pretty much screwed.

For the full CL ad, follow the jump.

By now our admiration for all things Vanessa Getty is well-known. Championed by the masses, we would hope. Take, for example, the above rendering SFist reader Alissa sent to us, which uses Nessie's legendary shot. Brilliance.

Thanks again, Alissa. (And to Miss Bigelow from saving us from further humiliation.)

Update: The murdered teen has been identified as Carlos Sousa, Jr.

As the investigation continues into Christmas Day's gruesome tiger attack at the SF Zoo, it turns out that the guy killed by Tatiana the tiger was a 17-year-old boy from San Jose. Unidentified at this point, and currently stuck with the moniker "John Doe 116," it seems that he also knew the tiger's two other victims, 19- and 23-year-old brothers from San Jose. The first attack occurred 300 yards from the second and third attacks.

According to the Gate:

Lora LaMarca, a zoo spokeswoman, said this morning that officials still have no idea how the animal escaped from its grotto, which is surrounded by a 15-foot-wide moat and a 20-foot high wall. Police on Tuesday night refused to rule out the possibility of carelessness or criminal activity, and zoo officials said the tiger did not escape through the grotto's only door.

She went on to say that if, in fact, someone released the tiger intentionally while visiting the SF Zoo, "it would be considered a crime." Yikes. An individual's fault? The Zoo's fault? God's fault? Your fault? We shall see. But for now, anyone who might have witnessed Tatiana's escape on Tuesday or the attacks is urged to call authorities at 415-553-0123.

Know the holiday log know God; no holiday log no God.

For all you Xmas celebrating consumerists out there - you know, those of you who participate in the evil practice of stocking stuffing and the early morning unwrapping of gifts - be sure to tune in to TV36 to catch the time-honored holiday log. It will burn from 9 a.m. to noon. What's more, a holiday score will be provided by the likes of Nat King Cole, child abuse practitioner Bing Crosby, smooth Johnny Mathis, and bat-ass crazy Mariah Carey.

And since not all of us have Citizen Kane-sized fireplaces - what, do you think you're Vanessa Getty or something? - this is the next best and the safest alternative. Oh, and it appears that it will run commercial-free, making it safe for all you socioeconomic crises-blithering, clearly altruistic anti-consumerists as well.

Just because we haven't seen him around these parts of the Internets lately, here's an ancient shot of Gov. (oy) Arnold Schwarzenegger taking some time to curl a dumbbell he found wildfire remains in South Lake Tahoe. A truly amazing shot, Jeff.

Image credit: Jeff Chiu of AFP/Getty Images