Ashley Alexandra Dupré biography

Synopsis

Center of a Scandal

Ashley Alexandra Dupré was born on April 30, 1985, in Belmar, New Jersey. She was identified by The New York Times Wednesday (March 12, 2008) as the woman at the center of the prostitution scandal that prompted New York Governor Eliot Spitzer to resign in disgrace, effective March 17.

Dupré is said to be "Kristen," a call girl for the Emperors Club VIP agency, described as a "petite, very pretty brunette, 5 feet 5 inches, and 105 pounds." Law enforcement officials said Spitzer arranged to have "Kristen" brought from New York to Washington for a two-hour $4,300 tryst on February 13, according to court papers.

Afterward, the FBI was listening in as she spoke to the escort service by telephone, saying she liked the client. "I don't think he's difficult," she is quoted in the affidavit as saying. "I mean it's just kind of like ... whatever ... I'm here for a purpose. I know what my purpose is. I am not a ... moron."

An aspiring musician who struggled in a broken home as a child, Dupré briefly spoke to the Times about the Spitzer scandal, saying she had been under great stress and had hardly slept since Spitzer's name was linked to the prostitution ring.

"I just don't want to be thought of as a monster," Dupré, 22, told the Times. "This has been a very difficult time. It's complicated."

Dupré also told the Times she was worried about paying her rent in a Manhattan apartment since her boyfriend recently left her. Records show she lives in a luxury rental skyscraper in the Flatiron District called The Chelsea Landmark, where rents reportedly start at $3500 a month for a small studio.

Dupré, who has not been charged, appeared in federal court March 10 as a witness in the case against four people accused of operating the Emperors Club VIP prostitution ring.

Early Life

On her MySpace.com page, Dupré, born Ashley Youmans, wrote that she had left her home in Belmar, New Jersey, to come to New York in order to become a rhythm and blues singer.

"My path has not been easy," she wrote. "When I was 17, I left home. It was my decision and I've never looked back. Left my hometown. Left a broken family. Left abuse. Left an older brother who had already split. Left and learned what it was like to have everything, and lose it, again and again."

"I have been alone," she wrote. "I have abused drugs. I have been broke and homeless. But, I survived, on my own. I am here, in NY because of my music." Dupré described her favorite musical artists as Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Christina Aguilera and Frank Sinatra, among many others.