Alix Earle's Stepmom Ashley Earle Says Stage Name and Escort Work Defined Her Early Life

Alix Earle's stepmom, Ashley Earle, opened up about coming back into the spotlight nearly two decades after the FBI scandal that exposed her as an escort.

Formerly known as Ashley Dupré, the mom of three became famous almost overnight, with her picture painted on the front page of every newspaper and tabloid in 2008.

However, it was her stage name, “Kristen,” that brought more attention to the prostitution scandal surrounding Eliot Spitzer, the former Governor of New York, which eventually led to his resignation.

In a new piece for Elle, she recalled what compelled her to make the decisions.

Ashley began her story by stating that she had run away from home at 17.

“At 22, I indeed became someone, just not remotely in the way I had planned. My stage name and photograph were suddenly splashed across newspaper covers, and for a long time, that was the version of me people knew best,” she said.

Noting that her younger self lacked “foresight,” she recalled, “At 19, while working as a cocktail waitress, a man approached me and told me I could make $1,000 an hour going on dates with 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. I wanted money and independence. I’d spent years operating in survival mode and had become very good at compartmentalizing. But ultimately, I made the call. It was my decision,” she admitted.

“I did that work for two years, and almost no one in my life knew. Then, when I was 22, the FBI knocked on my door and showed me a photograph of a man I had seen. I didn’t know who he was. When they told me he was the governor of New York, I couldn’t begin to understand what was about to happen,” she reminisced.

“Soon, my stage name and face were on the front page of The New York Post. There was an almost ridiculous irony to it. I had come to New York City wanting to be noticed, and suddenly everyone noticed me—for the one thing I never wanted anyone to know,” Ashley stated.

Ashley, whose story is getting renewed media scrutiny after Alix’s Netflix reality show Earle Meets World released on September 4, stated, “For years, I wanted to correct that identity. I wanted everyone to know there was more to me."

She continued, "I wanted to explain where I came from and why I’d made the choices I’d made. I thought that if people had enough context, eventually they’d arrive at the version of me I wanted them to see. I don’t think that way anymore.”

“Context isn’t absolution. I made choices. Some were reckless. Some were selfish. They had consequences. I can own all of that without believing those choices have to be the most interesting thing about me forever,” she remarked.

She also shared that just a few months after the scandal upended her life, she met Alix's father, Thomas “TJ” Earle, at a restaurant while he was still married.

She acknowledged that their actions deeply hurt his ex-wife, Alisa, as well as Alix and her sister Ashtin.

However, she also noted that they have all come a long way from that and she deeply appreciates the family they have built.

“Twenty years ago, I wanted everyone to understand me. Today, I don’t. The people sitting around my dinner table know who I am. So do I,” she went on.

“I’m not ashamed of the young woman I was. I wouldn’t make all of her choices again, but I’m also done wishing her away,” she explained.