Eliot Spitzer Scandal Gets New Life

In 2008, a 22-year-old aspiring musician named Ashley Dupré turned on the television and saw her own face everywhere. She had just been identified as “Kristen,” the escort who met New York Governor Eliot Spitzer at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C., on a February night that ended his political career. “I turned on the TV and I said what did I get myself involved in?” she later recalled. “And I felt like everything slowed down around me and it was just the TV and I.” That moment launched a scandal that became a permanent footnote in American political history—and, nearly two decades later, has resurfaced in an unexpected place: reality television.

The Emperor’s Club and Client 9

Ashley Dupré grew up in New Jersey and moved to New York as a teenager to pursue a music career. She worked as a cocktail waitress while trying to break into the industry. Someone told her she could make $1,000 an hour by going on dates with high-profile people. She saw it as a way to support herself and stay financially independent while networking. “Make some good money and network,” she thought. “Kind of foolproof, right?” She joined an elite escort service called the Emperor’s Club VIP.