Ashley Earle, stepmother of social media influencer Alix Earle, has shared her reflections on the 2008 sex scandal involving former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and her subsequent affair with Alix's father, TJ Earle. In a tell-all essay for Elle Magazine, Ashley, formerly known by her stage name Ashley Dupré, recounted the events that led to her involvement with Spitzer and her journey into motherhood.
Ashley described growing up in a "complicated family" in New Jersey and leaving home at age 17 to pursue a music career in New York City. At 19, while working as a cocktail waitress, she was approached with an offer to make significant money as an escort for high-profile men. "My first answer was no, but I kept his card. Eventually, I made the call. I could spend paragraphs explaining why. I was young," she wrote. She admitted to working as an escort for two years, a fact she kept largely private.
The scandal broke when Ashley was 22, and the FBI contacted her about a man she had seen. Upon learning the man was the governor of New York, she understood the magnitude of what was about to unfold. Her name and image became widely publicized, a situation she described as having "ridiculous irony" given her initial desire to be noticed in New York City.
"Context isn’t absolution. I made choices. Some were reckless. Some were selfish," Ashley reflected. "They had consequences. I can own all of that without believing those choices have to be the most interesting thing about me forever."
In the essay, Ashley also addressed her relationship with TJ Earle, who was married to Alisa, Alix and her sister Ashtin's mother, at the time they met. She described their meeting at the Parker House restaurant in New Jersey as "immediate" and admitted they "crossed a line they shouldn't have crossed." She stated, "I take responsibility for my part in that." She acknowledged that their choices caused pain to others, including TJ's then-wife and daughters.
Ashley emphasized that despite the complicated beginnings, the life she and TJ have built together is "deeply meaningful." The couple now has three children: Izabel, Penelope, and Thomas. "I can acknowledge that the way our relationship began was complicated and caused pain without letting that define everything that came after it," she wrote. "Both things can exist at once."
She expressed deep respect for Alisa and pride in the family they have since built. "I can’t change how our family began, and I wouldn’t insult anyone by pretending it didn’t cause pain," Ashley said. "But I’m also incredibly proud of what all of us built afterward. Today, Alix and Ashtin are two of the most important people in my life. We have an imperfect, chaotic, forgiving family that probably doesn’t make sense on paper, but somehow works beautifully in real life."
The essay arrives as the Earle family has seen renewed public attention following the premiere of Alix's Netflix show, "Earle Meets World." This resurgence in the spotlight has brought Ashley's past back into public discussion.