Common Sense Media Review
By Melissa Camacho
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Docuseries about infidelity app focuses on sex, fear, guilt.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies, and Scandal
What's the Story?
ASHLEY MADISON: SEX, LIES, AND SCANDAL is a three-part docuseries about the controversial Ashley Madison extramarital dating and social networking platform's rise, and people whose lives were enhanced or destroyed because of it. Former employees like ex-V.P. of sales Evan Back, former Director of Product Amit Jethani, and Marc Morgenstern, former creative director and brother of site co-founder Darren Morgenstern, share their perspectives about how the small Toronto-based company that promised to connect people seeking extramarital affairs without getting caught became a financial success. The public relations antics of then-CEO Noel Biderman, and the release of the site's full subscriber list in a 2015 hacking of their system by an anonymous group called The Impact Team, is addressed. Meanwhile, current and former Ashley Madison site users like Sam Radar, a Christian YouTube vlogger, share their experiences using the network. Marketing partners and journalists like Claire Brownell highlight how the company defrauded its website users, and conversations with ex-subscribers' partners, including Sam Radar's wife Nia, who describe how their lives changed after the breach revealed their spouses' infidelity.
Is It Any Good?
The mildly interesting docuseries offers a few new insights into what is already a well-documented story about the Ashley Madison Agency and the fallout from getting its membership data stolen and released to the public. But Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies, and Scandal approaches the subject matter from the point of view of the company's former technophiles who view the digital platform as a business like any other; that contrasts with the stories of U.S. Southern Christians whose lives were left in ruins because their partners used it. As a way of balancing the tales of the regretful and brokenhearted, the series also features married couple Rob and Stephanie, who happily use the site to pursue their extramarital interests.
Some of these conversations get a bit long-winded, but Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies, and Scandal increases the drama by also revealing some of the futile attempts made to identify and communicate with the hackers. It also references a few semi-famous people named in the data breach, including President Biden's son Hunter and Josh Taekman, husband of Real Housewives of New York City's Kristen Taekman. Though not the most illuminating of documentaries, it offers enough sensational (and sometimes tragic) information that folks still interested in the subject will find both informative and entertaining.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about online privacy. Is online information ever fully private or secure? What kind of information should you never put online?
What do the ex-employees featured on Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies, and Scandal want you to think about Ashley Madison and their role in it? What do ex-users of the site, and their spouses, want you to think about the company?
TV Details
- Premiere date : May 15, 2024
- Cast : Evan Back , Sam Radar , Claire Brownell
- Network : Netflix
- Genre : Reality TV
- TV rating :
- Last updated : May 20, 2024
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