What is Ashley Madison? How to watch the new Netflix doc 'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal'
Almost a decade has passed since the infamous Ashley Madison scandal that exposed the names and accounts of thousands of affair-seekers; yet, interest in the whole lurid affair remains, according to Netflix.
The streaming service is set to release a new docuseries about the cheating website's 2015 data breach, which revealed the information of over 30 million users, and the aftermath this week called "Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal."
It is the second such documentary to have been released in the last year, following behind Hulu's July 2023 docuseries titled "The Ashley Madison Affair," which focused more on the website's founding, rise to popularity, downfall and eventual return.
While the 2015 leak brought disrepute to some prominent figures, including celebs and politicians, and led to the CEO's resignation, the site featuring the tagline "Life is short. Have an affair," continues to operate to this day. According to claims made in the Hulu doc, the service had 75 million members worldwide as of 2021.
The name Ashley Madison ringing a bell but you can't quite remember the juicy details? Wonder what all the hubbub was about in the first place? Here's what to know about the new Netflix doc, Ashley Madison and the scandal.
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A disastrous hack, CEO's scandal:Revelations from 'The Ashley Madison Affair' Hulu docuseries
What is 'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies and & Scandal' about?
The new, three-part Netflix documentary series on Ashley Madison will be released exclusively to the streaming platform on May 15.
In the official Netflix summary, "Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal" is described as focusing on the 2015 data breach and its repercussions.
"When a dating site for people seeking adulterous affairs is hacked, millions of users' intimate data is exposed, wrecking marriages and destroying lives," says the series' descriptor line.
In a blog shared by Netflix, the themes of the doc are described with a bit more detail:
...chronicles the rise, fall, and rebirth of a website that has had a profound effect on countless couples and families. Featuring interviews with former employees and clients, the documentary series presents an unflinching look at what happens when millions of secrets are exposed at once, told through the eyes of a group of people who experienced it firsthand — and many of them offer some surprising perspective."
The docuseries was produced by Minnow Films and is directed by Toby Paton, produced by Chris McLaughlin, and executive produced by Fiona Caldwell and Sophie Jones.
How to watch 'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal' docuseries
"Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal" is a Netflix exclusive set to premiere on Wednesday, May 15. The limited series will feature three 50-minute episodes.
Netflix offers three membership options ranging from $6.99 a month to $22.99 a month. New users can also sign up for a free trial.
Watch the 'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal' trailer
What is Ashley Madison?
Launched in 2001, Ashley Madison was something of a dating website aimed at people looking to have extramarital affairs. Meant to be a discreet platform for connecting married people hoping to step out, the model entailed male members paying for credits needed to message female members, who signed up for free.
CEO Noel Biderman was open about the website being a place for facilitating adultery and happily used shock campaigns to promote it, like an ad with a photo of Hillary Clinton accompanied by text saying “New adventures. Start with ... AshleyMadison.com"
Biderman worked on these campaigns with his wife but was later exposed as being unfaithful via an email hack. He resigned as CEO in August 2015 following the infamous Ashley Madison data leak.
What was the infamous Ashley Madison data breach?
In the summer of 2015, a hacker group calling themselves "The Impact Team" gained access to Ashley Madison's data and leaked stolen files containing the personal information of up to 37 million people.
In July, the hackers contacted Ashley Madison staff members with threats of releasing stolen user data if the website did not shut down and cease operations immediately. The personal information and names of 2,500 users were initially released to prove the validity of the threat, but the company denied that their website had security issues and refused to concede to the demands.
The hacking group made good on those threats a month later on August 18, publicly releasing more than 60 gigabytes of company data including user details. Some exposed users had previously paid the company to delete their personal information, but the leak exposed its failure to do so.
Ashley Madison celebrity list from 2015 breach
The catalog of exposed accounts was long - so long, in fact, that it was turned into a searchable list. Celebrities, influencers, politicians and other notable names were on the list mixed in with normal people.
Some, like the oldest Duggar child Josh Duggar, became associated with the leak and saw hits to their reputations. Duggar has since been arrested and sentenced to 12 1/2 years in jail for possessing child pornography, which was discovered after he did a stint in rehab following the Ashley Madison revelations.
- Josh Duggar - A now infamous member of the ultra-conservative Christian Duggar family, best known for their TLC television show "19 Kids and Counting."
- Hunter Biden - President Joe Biden's son was one of multiple politically connected people who were accused of (and denied) having an account
- Sam Rader - A Christian family influencer known from the Sam and Nia YouTube channel that was popular in 2015.
- Jionni LaValle - Husband of Nicole Polizzi, aka Snooki from "Jersey Shore." Both denied that he cheated.
- Josh Taekman - A former Real Housewives of New York star who was married to Kristin Taekman.
- Jeff Ashton - Is a former Florida State Attorney and was known as the lead prosecutor in the Casey Anthony case.
- Jason Dorée - Was an executive director of the Republican Party of Louisiana at the time. According to Wired, 15,000 .gov or .mil email addresses were found in the leak. All of the American politicians implicated, including Dorée, denied any involvement with the site.
- Michelle Thomson - The then-MP for Edinburgh West was one of multiple international government officials found on the site. She claimed someone had signed up using an old email without her knowledge.
How to watch "The Ashley Madison Affair"
While Netflix's series on the infamous website is new, Hulu put one out last summer called "The Ashley Madison Affair."
The three-part docuseries focuses on the origins and growth of the website and the narrative of unapologetic CEO Noel Biderman.
"The Ashley Madison Affair" is available for streaming on Hulu with a standard account.
Contributing: Erin Jensen, Aberdeen News