NEWS
Ashley Madison’s chief strategy officer reveals what he REALLY thinks about the explosive Netflix documentary
It’s been over three months since explosive documentary Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal landed on Netflix, yet the divisive app is still very much a hot topic of conversation as the controversial dating service continues to thrive.
The three-part series soared straight into the top 10 most watched programs shortly after dropping on May 15, as viewers were gripped by the subject of infidelity, the 2015 hacking scandal, and the revelation that Ashley Madison employees had catfished men who were looking to cheat on their spouses by creating fake profiles.
Now, the chief strategy officer for Ashley Madison has shared his honest thoughts on Netflix’s retelling of the drama, which resulted in a slew of famous faces being exposed when the dating service was hacked by a group who referred to themselves as The Impact Team.
When asked if he’d rather the series hadn’t been made at all, Paul Keable exclusively told DailyMail.com: ‘No, anytime someone wants to talk about our business, so long as they’re being honest… misrepresentations would bother any organization, but I don’t think there was any full misrepresentations.
‘I would quibble with some of the things, but nothing over the top. The only thing was seeing some of my former colleagues talk about their viewpoints as though it was an official viewpoint.’
Keable continued: ‘[It] was comical because certain individuals have delusions of grandeur in terms of their importance in our history, and so be it. But yeah, it was an interesting company and I think people who are no longer with the organization miss the excitement of working for a company that is a cultural icon.’
The series features interviews with ex Ashley Madison employees, including the company’s former vice president of sales Evan Back, and former creative director Marc Morgenstern.
It also features various first person accounts with individuals who have used the app in the past, including Christian YouTube star Sam Rader, who cheated on his wife Nia and was exposed thanks to the 2015 scandal.
When asked what he really thought about the documentary, Keable referred to the hack and said: ‘You have to accept criticisms that come and I’m always welcome to have that conversation, but I think that the Netflix series was a bookend to that period of time.
‘It doesn’t mean it’s never going to be talked about again, but I think it did a very good job of summing up how people viewed it, what happened, the outcomes from it to a certain degree.’
He added: ‘I’m wildly biased because I worked for the company, but the one piece that was missing is that they didn’t really talk as much about how everyone assumed that was the end of our business, and yet here we are eight plus years, standing and thriving.’
Netflix stated that Ruby Life, the owners of Ashley Madison, had declined to comment on the claims made in the docuseries – and Keable was keen to explain why they had done so.
‘They did not want us to discuss how we’ve evolved and where we were growing, they only wanted to discuss our past and I said, “you don’t need any comment from us to discuss what happened,”‘ he said.
That was the interesting part, they were looking back and retelling a story that’s already been told so there was nothing new. And again, that’s not a criticism, but we don’t need to add anything to our past because we lived it, we’ve been through it.
‘Again, I’m biased, but I think it’s hard to talk about 2015 without having some cognitive recognition that not only did we survive, we thrived, and we are a sought out expert on the subject matter of adultery, infidelity and monogamy,’ he claimed.
Keable, who has worked for the brand since October 2013, also commented on the fact that the Netflix series explored Ashley Madison’s use of AI and the fake female profiles that were created in order to entice male subscribers.
‘So, all I’ll say to that is it was already out there, there’s nothing new about that, all [of] that story was told,’ Keable stressed, before adding: ‘Clearly we made mistakes in our past, but what wasn’t discussed is that that program was already being shut down prior to 2015.
‘It had been turned off in the States and in Canada and Australia, so we were decommissioning that because it was not right, it didn’t belong there,’ he continued.
‘All aspects of that program are gone, no longer on the platform, and it will never exist in any form ever again because that was part of our commitment to being authentic and true to who we are.
‘But yeah, it was a mistake, we learned from that, but we’d already learned from it because we were shutting it down and the interesting thing is, we’d shut it down – I believe it was in 2014 in the States – and our business still continued to grow.
‘So that’s the thing, we didn’t need it and anyone who thinks we’re doing that now is ludicrous. It’s part of our story, we’re not going to deny that that happened, it’s out there, it was a mistake, we learned from it but it wasn’t what drove the business, and that’s the part people want to believe.
People want to believe that because, again, they don’t believe women have agency over their sex life. They don’t want to believe that women come to Ashley Madison looking for sex because it just hurts that their wife could possibly seek sexual satisfaction elsewhere,’ Keable added.
Despite currently having over 85 million members, Ashley Madison still faces constant criticism and backlash for what it promotes and Keable claims people are ‘hating on the idea’ because they’ve been ‘trained that way.’
‘We can shut down our business tomorrow and not a single affair is gonna stop,’ he insisted. ‘In fact – and I believe this fundamentally – we save more marriages than we end because people find what was missing and they do it in a discreet way versus going to the office or going to the bar or some horrific way to do and then getting caught.
And people are like, “oh, that’s horrible,” and I’m like, “but is it? Because otherwise they’re going to get divorced anyways,” so we’ve created a scenario where both partners are happy. Yes, it’s based on a falsehood, but at least they’re still happy.’
(Armani)
Travis Kelce is back to playing NFL games in 2024, and now that Taylor Swift is off from the Eras Tour for a couple of months, she has some time when she can once again come to cheer him on at Kansas City Chiefs games. She was there for the Week 1 win and attended the Week 2 victory. She wasn’t there for the Week 3 game in Atlanta.
MORE: 8 photos of Taylor Swift having a blast at the Chiefs-Bengals game
So the question is: will she be there for the Week 4 matchup on Sunday afternoon between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Chiefs? According to our handy Taylor Swift calendar, she appears to not have anything planned that day. Which means we might see her there!
Stay tuned and we’ll see if she’s there.
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NEWS
Travis Kelce splashed out an eye-watering $70,000 on birthday gifts for ‘brother’ Patrick Mahomes… and here’s what he bought him
Patrick Mahomes recently celebrated his 29th birthday, and Travis Kelce reportedly broke the bank to make sure his ‘brother’ felt appreciated on his special day.
The pair have been teammates since Mahomes was drafted by the Chiefs in 2017, and they’ve gone on to strike up an incredible rapport that has helped the team win three Super Bowls.
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And according to the US Sun, Kelce splashed out $70,000 in birthday gifts for Mahomes this year.
The items are said to include an engraved Rolex watch for $54,200, with the letters ‘P’ and ‘M’ marked on the back to recognize their close friendship.
Kelce also reportedly got Mahomes a $2,300 wool cardigan from Louis Vuitton, and six bottles of Masseto red wine for $1,100 each.
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Travis Kelce reportedly gifted Patrick Mahomes $70,000 worth in lavish birthday gifts
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The Sun added that Mahomes’ wife, Brittany, helped Kelce with the watch, and that he added the engravement on the back to make it more ‘personal.’
The report comes after Brittany threw a birthday party for Patrick at their home after the Chiefs beat the Bengals.
The setup included a massive black, red and silver balloon arch sprawling across a corner of the room with a giant 29 metallic cutout at the center.
Another flashy decoration took over the area underneath the staircase with a big sign reading, ‘Patrick’s 29,’ in the middle.
Brittany even had custom cups and beer holders made, featuring childhood photos of the three-time Super Bowl winner.
After winning their second straight Super Bowl (and third total) together, Mahomes and Kelce spent some quality time together over the summer.
The friends met up in Europe as Patrick and Brittany traveled to Amsterdam to see Kelce’s girlfriend, Taylor Swift, perform on her Eras Tour.
Mahomes and Kelce have struck up an incredible partnership on the field together
Brittany, who has developed a close friendship with the pop star, shared a sweet photo of the foursome from the outing.
Later in the summer, the group descended upon New York to take in the US Open Final between Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner.
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While the American Fritz was unable to get the win, they appeared in good spirits as they watched the game from a suite at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
NEWS
Donna Kelce Says Son Travis ‘Can’t Clean’ and ‘Can’t Cook’ But Hints He Might Be ‘Getting Some Help’ from Taylor Swift
Donna Kelce is playfully sharing some of her son Travis Kelce’s flaws.
In an interview with Extra TV, the Kelce matriarch, 71, got candid about the things the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, 34, can’t do despite his success at football and his recent hosting and acting gigs.
“He can’t clean. He can’t cook,” she listed off jokingly, before adding that he was “getting a little better.”
“I think he’s getting some help,” Donna noted, hinting that he might be picking up some tips from girlfriend Taylor Swift, 34.
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are seen during the 2024 US Open Tennis Championships. GOTHAM/GC IMAGES
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s Relationship Timeline
The 14-time Grammy winner previously shared a video on YouTube Shorts of him kissing her in the kitchen while she stirred a pot, alongside other snapshots of her life. In the brief clip, several food ingredients could be seen on the counter behind them.
When asked about his appearance in the video and the kinds of foods he liked to cook with Swift during a Chiefs press conference in June, the NFL player admitted he liked spending time in the kitchen with his girlfriend, though he declined to comment on the kinds of dishes they made together.
“I respect that question but I’m going to keep that one to myself because I thoroughly enjoy cooking with her so it’s something I’d rather just keep personal,” he responded.
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He later added in the press conference that the “Fortnight” singer “makes a great pop-tart and cinnamon roll.” She even baked for Travis’ teammates after the pair went public with their romance in September 2023.
“Kind of behind-the-scenes, she, to fit in — she didn’t even know she was doing this, I don’t think — she likes to cook, so she made the offensive linemen these homemade pop-tarts,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid revealed during an interview at the NFL Scouting Combine in February.
How Taylor Swift Supported Boyfriend Travis Kelce’s Decision to Star in Ryan Murphy’s Grotesquerie
Swift has been there to cheer Travis on as he recently returned to the football field for the NFL’s latest season. She has made appearances at the Chiefs season-opener at the beginning of this month and at the Sept. 15 Chiefs game at Arrowhead Stadium, where she wore an oversized Chiefs T-shirt paired with a pair of thigh high boots.
Swift is on a break from her tour following the conclusion of the European leg of her Eras Tour in mid-August, after playing a second set of shows at Wembley Stadium in London. Her tour is scheduled to pick back up mid-October in Miami.
Kelce previously supported the singer on tour, making an appearance at several of her European Eras Tour concerts. He even made a surprise cameo onstage during her June 23 show at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Will Taylor Swift be at Travis Kelce’s game for Chiefs-Chargers on Sunday?
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