Ashley Alexandra Dupre — Aren’t Her 15 Minutes Up Yet?
Andy Warhol once said: “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”
The internet has guaranteed that, now, maybe not everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes, but everyone sure CAN be. And a young woman named Ms. Ashley Alexandra Dupre was last week’s poster child for Warhol’s famous statement.
Ms. Dupre’s 15 minutes were made possible by Eliot Spitzer, crusading independently wealthy ex-prosecutor turned governor of New York, who spent incredible amounts of money (up to $4,300.00 a pop — no pun intended) on unsafe sex with prostitutes, and, when exposed, took a nose dive right out of a soaring political career.
Given the circumstances, after all, isn’t it just a crap shoot of sorts, which hooker becomes America’s media darling? I guess she just happened to be the most recent.
While common sense says we should all have been (at least primarily) focused on the tragic, self-inflicted downfall of a man who was truly trying, as Governor of New York, to DO THE RIGHT THING, what it all came down to was this: the public really wanted to know exactly whose sex is worth thousands of dollars.
So, last week, as Spitzer was resigning in disgrace, we were all indulging our fascinated curiousity about Spitzer’s most recently commissioned call girl, Ashley Alexandra Dupre, AKA “Kristen” (for whose services Spitzer is reported to have paid $2,200.00). Born Ashley Youmans, her story went viral, and her market price spiked, as quickly as Spitzer fell like a lead balloon from grace.
The whole world could read the makings of a potential B-move drama about the young girl from a broken home who came to New York to be a recording artist, fell in with a pimp, and became a hooker, and THEN, due to her high-class hooker skills (and being in right/wrong place at the right/wrong time), unwittingly became the living, breathing symbol of the professional demise of a high-profile, crusading politician who just wouldn’t keep the snake in its cage.
Because everyone wanted to know exactly what kind of hooker is worth a political career, Ms. Dupre was everywhere. And she quickly capitalized in a big way.
Within two days of her “outing” as Kristen, Ms. Dupre posted two songs she recorded on the music site AmieStreet.com, which sells music for various prices based on demand. And despite the fact that the songs (“What We Want” and “Move Ya Body” — yes, I made myself listen to them) are pretty boring and derivative, they were in high enough demand to command the top price on the site, 98 cents. Her songs were the top two on the Buzzing Songs Today page at Amie Street. I know that put a few dollars in her purse.
Not to mention, Ashley’s MySpace page was getting multimillions of hits. And she’s getting the predictable offers to pose for Penthouse ($1 million — not bad for a working girl covered in tattoos) and other skin mags. Folks even speculated that there could be a book deal in the works, as well. Shudder.
This week, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m yawning. Her 15 minutes should be over by now, right? After all, if my husband, for instance, decided to spend thousands of dollars on Ms. Dupre, who would care? She wouldn’t even get 1 minute. But she won’t go away. And we’re now reduced to profiles of her as club-hopping, coke-sniffing, party girl, and reports about the possibility of her showing up on “Girls Gone Wild.” Is Penthouse still willing to pay $1 million for a cliche? If so, please hurry up and cash her out.
After all, New Jersey is offering us the revived McGreevey scandal to talk about, and it’s so much more titillating (read the link!). In fact, the McGreevey scandal was given new life because Dina Matos McGreevey felt compelled to come forward publicly to empathize with Silda Wall Spitzer, and welcome her to the Betrayed and Humiliated Political Wives Club. Which, in turn, compelled Jim McGreevey’s former driver, in an effort to keep things REAL and expose Matos McGreevey as a hypocrite, to go public about the three-way trysts he claims he used to have with the McGreeveys on Friday nights after dining at TGIFridays, and referred to be the threesome, oh-so-cleverly, as “Friday Night Specials.”
Not to mention, new New York governor David Paterson was not going to be outdone by the outgoing Spitzer. He admitted to having affairs during a time when his marriage was, shall we say, not doing so great. Turnabout is fair play, though, ’cause his wife had an affair, too! Fun for all.
So! We’re on a runaway freight train of sex scandal. Who’s next?!?
Update: I feel sooooo much better now that I got that out of my system!
Ashley Alexandra Dupre — Aren’t Her 15 Minutes Up Yet?
Andy Warhol once said: “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.”
The internet has guaranteed that, now, maybe not everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes, but everyone sure CAN be. And a young woman named Ms. Ashley Alexandra Dupre was last week’s poster child for Warhol’s famous statement.
Ms. Dupre’s 15 minutes were made possible by Eliot Spitzer, crusading independently wealthy ex-prosecutor turned governor of New York, who spent incredible amounts of money (up to $4,300.00 a pop — no pun intended) on unsafe sex with prostitutes, and, when exposed, took a nose dive right out of a soaring political career.
Given the circumstances, after all, isn’t it just a crap shoot of sorts, which hooker becomes America’s media darling? I guess she just happened to be the most recent.
While common sense says we should all have been (at least primarily) focused on the tragic, self-inflicted downfall of a man who was truly trying, as Governor of New York, to DO THE RIGHT THING, what it all came down to was this: the public really wanted to know exactly whose sex is worth thousands of dollars.
So, last week, as Spitzer was resigning in disgrace, we were all indulging our fascinated curiousity about Spitzer’s most recently commissioned call girl, Ashley Alexandra Dupre, AKA “Kristen” (for whose services Spitzer is reported to have paid $2,200.00). Born Ashley Youmans, her story went viral, and her market price spiked, as quickly as Spitzer fell like a lead balloon from grace.
The whole world could read the makings of a potential B-move drama about the young girl from a broken home who came to New York to be a recording artist, fell in with a pimp, and became a hooker, and THEN, due to her high-class hooker skills (and being in right/wrong place at the right/wrong time), unwittingly became the living, breathing symbol of the professional demise of a high-profile, crusading politician who just wouldn’t keep the snake in its cage.
Because everyone wanted to know exactly what kind of hooker is worth a political career, Ms. Dupre was everywhere. And she quickly capitalized in a big way.
Within two days of her “outing” as Kristen, Ms. Dupre posted two songs she recorded on the music site AmieStreet.com, which sells music for various prices based on demand. And despite the fact that the songs (“What We Want” and “Move Ya Body” — yes, I made myself listen to them) are pretty boring and derivative, they were in high enough demand to command the top price on the site, 98 cents. Her songs were the top two on the Buzzing Songs Today page at Amie Street. I know that put a few dollars in her purse.
Not to mention, Ashley’s MySpace page was getting multimillions of hits. And she’s getting the predictable offers to pose for Penthouse ($1 million — not bad for a working girl covered in tattoos) and other skin mags. Folks even speculated that there could be a book deal in the works, as well. Shudder.
This week, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m yawning. Her 15 minutes should be over by now, right? After all, if my husband, for instance, decided to spend thousands of dollars on Ms. Dupre, who would care? She wouldn’t even get 1 minute. But she won’t go away. And we’re now reduced to profiles of her as club-hopping, coke-sniffing, party girl, and reports about the possibility of her showing up on “Girls Gone Wild.” Is Penthouse still willing to pay $1 million for a cliche? If so, please hurry up and cash her out.
After all, New Jersey is offering us the revived McGreevey scandal to talk about, and it’s so much more titillating (read the link!). In fact, the McGreevey scandal was given new life because Dina Matos McGreevey felt compelled to come forward publicly to empathize with Silda Wall Spitzer, and welcome her to the Betrayed and Humiliated Political Wives Club. Which, in turn, compelled Jim McGreevey’s former driver, in an effort to keep things REAL and expose Matos McGreevey as a hypocrite, to go public about the three-way trysts he claims he used to have with the McGreeveys on Friday nights after dining at TGIFridays, and referred to be the threesome, oh-so-cleverly, as “Friday Night Specials.”
Not to mention, new New York governor David Paterson was not going to be outdone by the outgoing Spitzer. He admitted to having affairs during a time when his marriage was, shall we say, not doing so great. Turnabout is fair play, though, ’cause his wife had an affair, too! Fun for all.
So! We’re on a runaway freight train of sex scandal. Who’s next?!?
Update: I feel sooooo much better now that I got that out of my system!