6 Celebrities Mentioned in 'Ashley Madison: S--, Lies and Scandal' Netflix Docuseries
May 29 2024, Published 10:24 a.m. ET
Hunter Biden
On May 15, Netflix released the three-part documentary series Ashley Madison: S--, Lies and Scandal, which explored how the users tried to find affair partners on the website Ashley Madison despite being in a marriage or a relationship. Aside from the website's story, it also named several known personalities that put a spotlight on their infidelities.
One of the people mentioned in the series was Hunter Biden. The second eldest son of President Joe Biden, who denied involvement with the dating site, claimed that someone used his email address to set him up.
"I am certain that the account in question is not mine," Hunter alleged in a statement in 2015.
He added, "This is, unfortunately, not the first time that someone has used my name and identity to try to discredit me. From my understanding through press accounts, it is very easy to set up an account without someone's knowledge as there is no requirement that an email address be verified and I am certain that is what happened in this case."
Jionni LaValle
Jionni LaValle, Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi's husband, also faced accusations he had an account on the cheating site after his email was linked to it.
However, Snooki denied the claims via Instagram in August 2015, writing, "This morning when I got a call from my publicist that a story was going to be printed on my husband 'allegedly' signing up on Ashley Madison, I laughed — and said lets not even comment and give the story any juice, because it couldn't be any further from the truth. But now seeing how it's the 'news of the day' and everyone is wondering what I think about it — here it is."
She said Jionni had always been a stand-up guy who never signed up on a website and paid for it, insisting that her husband was a good man who would never do anything to ruin his family.
Josh Duggar
Before the documentary series was released, the revealed that disgraced reality TV star Josh Duggar had two accounts on the site.
According to Gawker, Josh used a credit card to pay for at least two memberships. The card's billing address also matched his grandmother's home in Fayetteville, Ark.
Josh seemingly confirmed the creation of the accounts when he released a statement on his family's website, saying he had "re-broken" everyone's trust. He previously admitted molesting five young girls, four of whom were his younger sisters.
"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," he said.
The convicted reality star added, "I was hiding my own personal failings. As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose our actions, but we do not get to choose our consequences. I deeply regret all hurt I have caused so many by being such a bad example. I humbly ask for your forgiveness. Please pray for my precious wife Anna and our family during this time."
Josh Taekman
A Daily Mail report disclosed that Kristen Taekman's husband, Josh Taekman, had an Ashley Madison account since 2011. It suggested he spent thousands of dollars to create multiple transactions.
Clips in the documentary series revealed Josh's activities, later pushing him to confess to having an account.
"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," he said in a statement to People. "We both look forward to moving past this and getting on with our lives."
Michelle 'Bombshell' McGee
In the third part of Ashley Madison: S--, Lies and Scandal, Michelle "Bombshell" McGee broke her silence after her photo was allegedly used to drive traffic to the website.
"Something that was really driven in hard was that I created a profile on Ashley Madison," Michelle said. "Didn't think anything of it at the time. I put my picture on there — it's from my email address. These guys have not only seen my profile on Ashley Madison, but they actually think they are talking to me."
Sam Rader
Sam Rader said while he did not have an affair through Ashley Madison, he tried to find an extramarital s-- through clubs and massage parlors. His wife, Nia Rader, opened up about their situation in the documentary series.
"Seeing all the responsibility Sam took for everything he had done, the hours of counseling and conversation that he sat through, no matter how mad I was at what he had done I could still see this shift that happened to him," Nia shared. "Yes, the betrayals were out but so was the real Sam."
Sam and Nia have four children.