Ashley Madison, the infamous dating website for people seeking extramarital affairs, is the subject of a new Netflix documentary – and so is its 2015 hack.
Now streaming, “Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal” details the rise and fall of the dating site for cheaters, and the notorious data breach when unknown hackers leaked over 30 million users’ private information.
It was one of the largest hacks in internet history, and wreaked havoc on untold numbers of families. It also exposed many celebs who were Ashley Madison clients, such as then-reality TV star (and, since then, convicted sex offender) Josh Duggar.
To make matters more unsettling, to this day, nobody knows who did the hack.
Documentary director Toby Paton told The Post, “It’s a fascinating aspect of the whole story. The cyber expert that we speak to said it’s extremely unusual to have a sophisticated and high-profile [hack] and have the person who did it have never done anything before and never do anything since. It really seemed like it was a one-off.”
He added that he believes the culprit was connected to Ashley Madison, “and had some kind of inside knowledge of how the company worked. But beyond that, I really don’t think anybody knows.”
“Whoever did it has done an extraordinarily good job of keeping their head down,” Paton said.
Just who were the celebs who were exposed?
Sam Rader
Rader, a YouTube vlogger known for his videos about his family and his Christian values, is the only high-profile Ashley Madison user who agreed to participate in the doc and share his story on-screen.
As Paton told The Post, “I wasn’t expecting it to be quite as hard as it was [to find people willing to talk], given that that was nine years ago. A lot of people whose names were revealed [in the 2015 hack] would have either repaired [their relationships] or their marriages would have ended. So I thought, with that much water under the bridge, it would be easier than it was to find people who were willing to come on and talk.”
On-screen, Rader details how he signed up for Ashley Madison and cheated on his wife, Nia.
Interviewing Sam was “particularly tense and difficult” for Paton because “it’s not easy to come on camera and talk about stuff you’ve done that you feel ashamed of.”
Josh Duggar
When the convicted sex offender and “19 Kids and Counting” star’s name was released on the list, he issued an apology to the public and admitted to cheating on his spouse.
He said in a statement at the time, “I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife. I am so ashamed of the double life that I have been living and am grieved for the hurt, pain and disgrace my sin has caused my wife and family, and most of all Jesus and all those who profess faith in Him.”
Duggar is currently in prison, convicted on child pornography charges. His wife, Anna, is still married to him.
Jeff Ashton
Ashton, currently a judge in a Florida circuit court, was a state’s attorney best known for prosecuting Casey Anthony.
When his name was included in the leak, he gave a statement saying, “I hope the public will judge me on my 35 years of service, and not a bad mistake.” He claimed that he never cheated on his wife, and signed up for the affair website because he was “curious.”
Jason Dore
The GOP official from Louisiana reportedly claimed that he made the account for the purposes of researching his opponent.
Josh Taekman
Taekman is the husband of “Real Housewives of New York City” star Kristen Taekman. At the time of the data leak, he put out a statement saying, “I signed up for the site foolishly and ignorantly with a group of friends and I deeply apologize for any embarrassment or pain I have brought to my wife and family. We both look forward to moving past this and getting on with our lives.”
The couple stayed together.
“I have to say, I’m very proud of our relationship and I think we’ve come a long way,” Kristen told People in 2023.
She added, “We are stronger than ever. Maybe I’m back to prove everybody wrong and break all those silly myths about ‘Housewives” marriages, because despite what everyone probably thought, we’re still happily married.”
Hunter Biden
Biden’s name was included in the leak, but he denied involvement with the site.
“I am certain that the account in question is not mine,” Biden said in a statement to CNN at the time. “This account was clearly set up by someone else without my knowledge, and I first learned about the account in question from the media.”
Jionni LaValle
“Jersey Shore” star Snooki’s husband, Jionni LaValle, was also named, but denied it, and remains married to Snooki.
At the time of the scandal, Snooki defended her husband.
“I’m lucky if he knows how to even use a computer, [let alone] go on Ashley Madison to cheat on me,” she said during an episode of her “Naturally Nicole” podcast. She added, “It’s so stupid, and we honestly think, like, someone is trying to f–k with us because this isn’t the first story that Jionni’s been cheating on me. But all these stories never have evidence. There’s never a photo, there’s never text messages, there’s nothing.”
