Millions Of Men Were Active On Cheating Site Ashley Madison, While Many Female Profiles Were Alleged Bots, According To Reports
According to an older analysis, 99% of the women on Ashley Madison were fake.
Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal reveals what we've suspected all along.
This article was updated on 5/21/24.
Netflix's explosive docuseries on cheating website Ashley Madison highlights the company's ascent to prominence and its infamous founder, Noel Biderman, who unapologetically promoted infidelity as a profitable business venture.
Despite its initial backlash when the platform debuted in 2002, Ashley Madison (now under new leadership) boasts 70 million members, according to a 2020 report. They claim that half of the users are women, but the documentary suggests that the female users in 2015 were actually fake accounts.
This may not be the first time you've heard this. In 2015, the Impact Team hacked Ashley Madison, revealing a disturbing male-female ratio on its website. The hackers said that about 90-95% of the accounts on Ashley Madison were male, and there were "thousands" of fake profiles claiming to be women. However, Gizmodo's Annalee Newitz said she learned that the website created many bot accounts.
In an updated investigation, Gizmodo claimed that Ashley Madison allegedly created over 70,000 female bots to send millions of fake messages to male users, creating the illusion of a vast number of available women.
In addition, the hackers stole sensitive data from Ashley Madison, including user names, emails, messages, and credit card details. They demanded that Ashley Madison and its sister site, Established Men, be taken offline permanently, threatening to release the data if their demands were unmet.
Avid Life Media, Ashley Madison's former parent company, did not comply, prompting the hackers to release the stolen information online. The data breach exposed the identities of millions of users, leading individuals to public humiliation, ruined relationships, and damaged careers.
Despite the controversy and damage to its reputation, Ashley Madison continued to operate and even grew its user base in subsequent years. While reports still suggest that the platform has 70 million members, it's unknown how many of them are female.
Support our cause and help women reclaim their femininity by subscribing today.