The Ashley Madison Data Breach List Included A President’s Son & A Housewives Husband

Josh Taekman

Former Real Housewives of New York husband Josh Taekman was named in the Ashley Madison data breach, but Josh denied he’d actually participated in any infidelity. “I signed up for the site foolishly and ignorantly with a group of friends and I deeply apologize for any embarrassment or pain I have brought to my wife and family,” the EBOOST co-founder at the time told PEOPLE in a statement. “We both look forward to moving past this and getting on with our lives.”

In December 2023, the couple celebrated their 19th anniversary. “I have to say, I’m very proud of our relationship and I think we’ve come a long way,” Kristen told People. “We are stronger than ever. And maybe I’m back to prove everybody wrong and break all those silly myths about Housewives marriages, because despite what everyone probably thought, we’re still happily married.”

Jionni Lavalle

Jionni Lavalle, husband of Jersey Shore star Snooki was also allegedly named, though she fiercely denied such an idea. “This morning when I got a call from my publicist that a story was going to be printed on my husband ‘allegedly’ signing up on Ashley Madison, I laughed- and said lets not even comment and give the story any juice, because it couldn’t be any further from the truth,” the reality star captioned an Instagram pic of the couple dancing at their November 2014 wedding, at the time.

“But now seeing how it’s the ‘news of the day’ and everyone is wondering what I think about it- here it is. Jionni is the the most humble, respectful, and most loyal souls I know. I mean hello, that’s why I married him.”

Hunter Biden

In 2015 when the leak occurred, Joe Biden was Vice President to Barack Obama. His son, Hunter Biden, was allegedly named in the Ashley Madison data breach list, though he denied his connection to the site.

“I am certain that the account in question is not mine,” Biden said in a statement provided to CNN at the time. “This account was clearly set up by someone else without my knowledge and I first learned about the account in question from the media.”

Josh Duggar

Josh Duggar and his family gained fame as the focus of the TLC series 19 Kids and Counting. He was named amid the some 32 million people in the Ashley Madison data breach list. This was particularly shocking because the Duggars were known for being devout Christians who didn’t believe in practicing birth control and whose children followed strict courtship rules.

“I have been the biggest hypocrite ever. While espousing faith and family values, I have secretly over the last several years been viewing pornography on the internet and this became a secret addiction and I became unfaithful to my wife,” Duggar said in a statement at the time. “I brought hurt and a reproach to my family, close friends and the fans of our show with my actions that happened when I was 14-15 years old, and now I have re-broken their trust,” Duggar said.

Duggar later faced sexual assault allegations and in 2021 was guilty of receiving and possessing child pornography. He’s serving 12 years at the low-security federal prison FCI Seagoville near Dallas, set for release on October 2, 2032.

Sam Rader

YouTubers Sam Rader and his wife Nia built up a following by documenting the day-to-day of their Christian family. But Sam’s reputation came under question when he was exposed as part of the Ashley Madison data breach. His story features in Netflix’s series, and though he signed up for the site, he maintains he never actually cheated on his wife.

“It was very shocking,” Nia told Tudum. “I was surprised that Sam would have been drawn to a website like that in the first place because it was outside of his usual morals and character.” But they’re still together. “I have sought forgiveness from God and He has forgiven me, so I have been completely cleansed of this sin,” Sam says in the show.

Florida State Attorney Jeff Ashton

The prosecutor in the Casey Anthony case, Jeff Ashton, was also named in the leak, though he maintained he was just “curious” and never actually participated in an affair.

“Two years ago, I was curious about the Ashley Madison website, and I used my personal credit card to sign up for the site. I deeply regret my affiliation with the site, which has caused a great amount of stress and heartache to my wife and children. I want to publicly apologize to each of them for this embarrassment and for my blatant disregard for their feelings,” he told reporters at the time, per CNN.

“While I indulged my curiosity about the site, it never went beyond that. These were incredibly stupid choices. I ask for the public’s forgiveness for my shortcomings, but those choices have had absolutely no impact on the performance of my official duties. I regret that I have given ammunition to those who seek to discredit the work our office does. I am proud of the work, and what we’ve accomplished thus far, but today I’m not very proud of myself,” he said.

Noel Biderman

Yes, the Ashley Madison CEO himself was named amid the breach, which was particularly shocking considering he was the face of the site for decades while boasting of his own monogamous marriage. Biderman’s personal emails revealed that he repeatedly sought young escorts, per The Guardian.

“While Mr. Biderman understands the differences between himself and those customers, he—like many of them—have, in the intervening years, attempted to move on and repair the damage to his life and relationships. He feels fortunate that his wife, Amanda, has stood by him throughout. And he is committed to continuing to move forward and grow,” his attorney said in 2023 in response to hulu’s The Ashley Madison Affair.

Pastor John Gibson

One of the most tragic stories from the Ashley Madison documentary was that of Pastor John Gibson, whose wife Christi was interviewed in the second episode. John was a teacher at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and he died by suicide less than a week after discovering his name on a published list of account holders at Ashley Madison.

“I do believe that John thought if people saw his weaknesses and his flaws, they wouldn’t love him,” Christi told a local New Orleans news outlet at the time. “He didn’t seem to make that connection—that he could fail and receive the same grace that he gave others.”

Government employees

Around 15,000 email addresses in the Ashley Madison data breach list were .gov domains, the official addresses of US government and military employees. 

President imposters

Thousands of names from the Ashley Madison hack included variations on Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Bill Clinton—all with fake @whitehouse.gov e-mail addresses.

The Washington Post found “barack.obama@whitehouse.gov, a 50-year-old female living here in Washington with the profile caption ‘im the prez.’ Another 60-year-old man in Houston has the username BARACK1955 and the e-mail address, BARACKO@WHITEHOUSE.GOV.”

There was also a New Yorker posing as Dick Cheney and an Ohioan as Joe Biden, there were also 9 pretending to be Donald Trump “and one woman in West Virginia registered as donaldtrumpshair@ymail.com” the Post reported.