Just when I thought sex scandals were passé, here comes Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the 22-year-old prostitute who put money where her Myspace is. The young Jersey girl who brought former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer to his knees has found a way to make money in Paris-sex-tape proportions. In the process, she’s taught everyone how to turn a quick buck.
Since the scandal broke, Dupre has profited more than $200,000 from her two, mind you, two tracks she has on her Myspace page. Each download costs a maximum of 98 cents.
Reportedly, Playboy is offering her millions to pose in a nude centerfold. Hustler also reportedly offered her $1 million to pose nude. And her Myspace website has received more than nine million hits. The New York Times linked to it directly.
With the publicity Dupre has gotten (sex scandal or not), this girl is set for life. And she hasn’t even said a word yet.
Love her or hate her, Dupre has got us beat on the make-rich-quick plan. She fused Trump tactics with street knowledge: Make the money work for you, and it’s all about the money, not about the sex.
Meanwhile, she’s maintained control of the situation with her Myspace page. The media and readers fell in line like puppets on a string.
No matter what you think about her, by the time you visit her page, you actually start to like her. Her Myspace headline reads: “What destroys me, strengthens me.” I actually found her pretty inspiring. Believe it or not, someone I can look up to.
She also writes: “I can honestly tell you to never dwell on the past, but build from it and keep moving forward. Don’t let anyone hold you back or tell you that you can’t…because you can.” Doesn’t sound very much like a prostitute to me.
What if she didn’t have a Myspace page? What would we think of her then? What if her pictures were raunchy, instead of the innocent, girl-next-door headshots she currently has? Would she be demonized in the public eye, the way Monica Lewinsky was during the Clinton years?
I bet even Eliot Spitzer wishes he had a Myspace page.
This got me thinking… How significant of a role does Myspace play in grounding the public’s opinion about Dupre?
On the flipside: If I were in Dupre’s stilettos, what would my Myspace page say about me? And if for some reason my life takes a downward turn, would I be able to take lemons and make lemonade?
By no means am I suggesting that all twenty-somethings forego college and turn to the streets, but Dupre has taught us to control our destiny and use the tools we’re given to work for us, and not against us. Be it Myspace, the media or even the U.S. government.
Photo: Ashley Alexandra Dupre
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