‘Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal’ Director on How They Got Unfaithful Men to Confess on Camera
16.05.2024 - 02:45
/ variety.com
Lexi Carson “Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal” is filled with tears, confessions and betrayal. The Netflix docuseries, which premiered on May 15, revolves around the online dating site Ashley Madison, the slogan of which was “Life is Short. Have an Affair.” It was used by millions of married people who were looking to cheat on their partners.
However, in July 2015, the website was hacked, and users’ information was exposed. The hack caused marriages to explode, ruined lives — and even ended some. “Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal” spotlights a number of couples’ stories who were affected by the hack, but much of its screen time focuses on Sam and Nia Raden.
They are a couple who became famous on YouTube for sharing their Christian beliefs and had a seemingly perfect marriage. But when the user names from Ashley Madison were leaked, Sam Raden was one of its customers. Through “Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal,” director Toby Paton wants viewers to try to understand the complexity of marriage.
He chatted with Variety about some of the biggest questions from the show, including how difficult it was to find subjects for the docuseries. What led you to want to tell this story? I got a call about making a series for Netflix — I hadn’t followed it super closely at the time that it happened. And they talked me through the kind of characters they had, and the way they wanted to tell the story, and immediately I just thought, “Wow, what a fantastic story.” I mean, it’s kind of got everything, hasn’t it? It’s got all the kind of propulsive kind of narrative drive of a thriller with the story of the hack, and exposing the data and the investigation into who did it.
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