Netflix’s newest docuseries about the Ashley Madison scandal referenced several celebrities.
Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies and Scandal, which released all three parts on Wednesday, May 15, explored how the cheating website brought in so many members — and how a targeted hack affected millions of users, ruined marriages and destroyed lives.
The docuseries included interviews from former employees, members and high-profile users, such as YouTube vlogger Sam Rader. Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies and Scandal also used footage from when the drama originally made headlines in 2015 to highlight celebrities that were accused of using the dating site, including Josh Duggar.
Duggar, 36, entered the spotlight because of his family’s TLC reality series 19 Kids and Counting (formerly 17 Kids and Counting and 18 Kids and Counting). Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar‘s large family and religious lifestyle fascinated viewers as soon as the show debuted in 2008. Josh, for his part, married Anna Duggar (née Keller) that same year.
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In 2015, Josh came under fire after a police report revealed he molested five girls, four of which were his sisters, when he was a teenager. Months later, hackers released stolen data from Ashley Madison that revealed login details, email addresses and payment transaction information for over 30 million users of the site. Josh admitted he cheated on Anna, 35, after his account was revealed.
Outlets reported at the time that Josh’s name was connected to two different accounts, which he used to spend almost $1,000. (Members had to buy credits in order to send messages to people on the site. There was also a money-back guarantee if the subscriber didn’t not have an affair.)
“I brought hurt and a reproach to my family, close friends and the fans of our show with my actions that happened when I was 14-15 years old, and now I have re-broken their trust,” Josh wrote via his family’s website in 2015. “The last few years, while publicly stating I was fighting against immorality in our country, I was hiding my own personal failings. As I am learning the hard way, we have the freedom to choose to 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 and Anna remained married and expanded their family with seven kids. In 2021, Josh was arrested on charges of receipt and possession of child pornography. He pleaded not guilty and was later sentenced to 151 months in prison, which he is still currently serving out.
Keep scrolling for a guide to every celebrity name-dropped in Netflix’s Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies and Scandal:
Josh Duggar
The docuseries featured media footage about Josh addressing his Ashley Madison membership. After the data breach in 2015, details about Josh’s account were exposed, including that his listed interests mentioned “one-night stands” and “experimenting with sex toys.”
“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,” Josh wrote via his family’s official website at the time. “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.”
The scandal came months after a police report revealed he molested five girls when he was 14 and 15 years old. (It was later revealed that four out of five of Josh’s victims were his siblings, including Jill Duggar and Jessa Duggar.)
Josh is currently in prison after being sentenced in 2022 to more than 12 years behind bars on child pornography charges.
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Hunter Biden
The son of President Joe Biden was also linked to an Ashley Madison account. Netflix’s docuseries featured a statement from Hunter Biden denying any involvement with the dating site. Hunter, 54, previously claimed that someone used his old email address to discredit him.
“I am certain that the account in question is not mine,” Hunter said in a statement in 2015 while referring to his Gmail and Twitter accounts being compromised in the past. “This account was clearly set up by someone else without my knowledge and I first learned about the account in question from the media.”
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.”
Outlets who acquired information about the hacks at the time pointed out that Hunter’s birthdate on his alleged account was listed at 1980 even though he was born 10 years prior.
Jionni LaValle
According to media footage featured in the doc, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi‘s husband, Jionni LaValle, was also accused of having an account after his email was reportedly linked to the cheating site.
Snooki, 36, who shares three kids with LaValle, 37, shut down the allegations at the time, writing via Instagram in August 2015, “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.”
The reality star made it clear she was standing by LaValle amid the drama.
“He’s a stand up guy who loves his family more than anything in this world,” she wrote. “I really didn’t even want to acknowledge this absurd story, but when my family is being bashed for no reason — mama bear is gonna say what’s up. So no, my husband didn’t sign up on that website to cheat on me. Honestly, if he wanted to cheat — he would go out and do it. Not sign up on a website and pay for it.”
She concluded: “Jionni is a good guy and doesn’t need his name being tarnished. Nor does our family. We did nothing wrong to deserve this. So with all of this said, I love you babe. And even though I’m a pain in your ass, I know you would never cheat on me. Especially on a lame ass website. @jlavalle5 #myfamilyrocks.”
A statement at the end of the doc noted Snooki’s denial that LaValle had an Ashley Madison account.
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Josh Taekman
Clips in the docuseries addressed how RHONY star Kristen Taekman got involved in the controversy when her husband, Josh Taekman, was named as part of the leak. Josh, 55, subsequently admitted to having an account on Ashley Madison.
“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 told Us Weekly in 2015. “We both look forward to moving past this and getting on with our lives.”
Multiple outlets reported at the time that Josh spent thousands on Ashley Madison with 62 paid transactions.
Kristen, 47, for her part, later told Entertainment Tonight that the scandal “100 percent” made their marriage stronger. She appeared on seasons 6 and 7 of RHONY before leaving the franchise. Kristen was also part of Ultimate Girls Trip season 4, which exclusively featured RHONY alums. She remains married to Josh.
Sam Rader
Viral Christian bloggers Sam Rader and Nia Rader both participated in Netflix’s docuseries. Most of their interviews were filmed individually as they discussed their experience with the dating app.
In 2015, Sam, 38, was named as one of the many users who had an account on Ashley Madison. He issued a YouTube statement with Nia days later.
“As you may have seen, my name has been associated with an Ashley Madison account,” he said in the video. “I’m here to clarify some of this with you guys, ‘cause I owe it to you: I did make the account. I made the account two years ago. This is an issue that is in our past. This was before I got onto YouTube. I’ve sought forgiveness to God and he’s forgiven me. So I’ve been completely cleansed of this sin.”
Sam subsequently revealed in the docuseries that although he didn’t actually conduct an affair through Ashley Madison, he frequented massage parlors and strip clubs for sex while he was married to Nia, 35. The couple, who share four children, initially parted ways but reconciled and are still together.
“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 noted in the doc. “Yes, the betrayals were out but so was the real Sam.”
The duo ended the docuseries with a joint confessional. “Nia, she decided she would give me a second chance. Falling deeply in love is beautiful. But I’ve learned continuing to be deeply in love takes work,” Sam shared. “There’s a lot of things I really do regret, but I don’t regret the hack. It had to happen for where we are at today.”
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Michelle McGee
In the third installment of the docuseries, McGee was introduced as a former Ashley Madison ambassador. McGee recalled getting in contact with the company in 2010 after her alleged affair with Sandra Bullock‘s then-husband Jessie James made headlines. McGee did cross-promotional work for Ashley Madison — but her photos were later used for fake accounts on the site.
“Something that was really driven in hard was that I created a profile on Ashley Madison. 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,” McGee recalled about how she figured out the truth. “There’s somebody pretending they’re me on that website.”
Former employees who participated in the docuseries confirmed that female accounts on the website weren’t always authentic. Ashley Madison specifically used bots to engage with male profiles to push them to spend more money.
