Diane Sawyer Interviews Spitzer Escort Ashley Dupre For No Discernible Reason

The Eliot Spitzer hooker scandal broke loose way back in early March, so it’s sort of confusing to us why Diane Sawyer and ABC would consider it particularly timely or newsworthy to sit down with Spitzer’s preferred escort, Ashley “Kristen” Dupre, eight months after the story broke. At least we finally get to know all about the childhood and adolescent experiences of the sort of vaguely orange B&T girl we’ve often had accidentally spill a vodkatini on us whenever we’re tricked into spending time in Midtown. Ashley, ignoring the growing stain on our hoodie, maintains that:

“If it wasn’t me, it would have been someone else,” she said. “I was doing my job. I don’t feel that I brought him down.”

After her alias as Client #9’s Kristen was revealed, Dupre hid from the media spotlight at her family’s home in New Jersey, biding her time until the right moment came for her to come forth and issue timeless universal truths, such as:

“I felt like it was surreal, like it wasn’t happening,” she said. “But it was.”

Deep. Dupre also revealed to Diane why it was that she decided to change her name from “Youmans” to Dupre:

“I wanted a new name to go along with me,” she said. “I’ve been searching for so long for that identity of who I am.” In high school, Dupre was an honor student, worked in a restaurant and “never really socialized and went … to any of the parties, the high school parties.”

“I got along with everyone, I was kind of popular,” she said. “I was pretty popular.”

Which offers little reasoning for her eventual slip into recreational drug use, running away from home and damaging relationships:

“I was an angry 17-year-old,” she said. “I was so confused and I didn’t understand my emotions. Where I became self-destructive.”

At 19, Dupre moved to New York to pursue her goal of becoming a singer, whereupon she was given a business card for an escort service. Jealous?:

“You don’t mean to make those choices but you’re put in a situation and, you know, you have an opportunity to do it,” she said.

“I really didn’t see the difference between going on a date with someone in New York, taking you to dinner and expecting something in return,” she said. “I really thought it was more of a trade-off. He’s expecting something in return when you date, whereas, you know, being an escort, it was a formal transaction.”

K. She also admits to not really knowing who Eliot Spitzer was when she first met him, only realizing the situation she was in after news of his dalliances hit the teevee:

“I didn’t know the depth to my situation,” she said. “That’s when I connected the dots, was when everyone else found out. I turned on the TV and I said, “Oh s–, what did I get myself involved in? I felt like everything slowed down around me. And it was just the TV and I and, I was shocked.”

And then she says something that will make anyone who has ever been cheated on, ever, want to take a lead pipe to someone face:

“I felt connected to her,” Dupre said. “I didn’t feel connected to him. Her pain. And I just saw the pain in her eyes.”

That’s nice. But if there’s anything Ashley hopes you leave this interview with, its the knowledge that she’s, really, all about her music:

“You stop and think, but that’s not who I am,” she said. “And that’s not what I want to do. I want to go after my music and do what I love. And not lose track of who I am on the way. I’m trying to pursue my music. I’m still living for it. I’m not gonna give up my dream. I’m not going to change. I’m not going to let this change who I am. And what I love.”

“I needed to give myself time to heal,” Dupre said. “And the people that were hurt by my choices time to heal, as well. And now it’s time for me to tell my side of the story. And for people to get to know me. The real me, not, not the person that was created by the media.”

Which begs the question: Why would anyone be interested in knowing the “real” Ashley Dupre? We were, personally, totally uninterested in learning about the supposed “fake” Ashley. We’re not concerned with her healing process, her ambitions, her family life, her favorite color or what her favorite shampoo happens to be.

Why is anyone under the impression that the general public is somehow interested in or entitled to information about their personal lives? Add to this the reality that Ashley’s role in the Eliot Spitzer scandal has become a platform for instant recognition and we can’t help but feel, you know. We’ve had our fill of this person. It’s not because she fame is undeserved in light of other, talented, struggling singers. Or that she feels completely justified in her assumption that the public is interested in what she has to say. Or even that her voice and her song choices are mediocre at best. It’s just that she hasn’t done anything! She played a passive role in a much-publicized scandal and now she’s somehow considered someone worth paying attention to. And that is, really, the only interest we have in her story: The fact that she represents a breed of micro-celebrity we find particularly confusing and problematic. We don’t hate what Ashley Dupre represents. The fact is, she represents very little. We do, however, utterly loathe what the media attention and platform given to her represents: That recognition is an admirable end, regardless of means.

Ashley Dupre Exclusive: ‘My Side of the Story’ [ABC News]