Kristen’s Friend Speaks (Updated)
[Guest post by DRJ]
Kristen’s childhood friend says Kristen/Ashley did not have the difficult and abusive upbringing she suggested in her MySpace page:
“I live next door to her. Obviously her parents have a lot of money. I feel like growing up you know, she got what she wanted,” said [former best friend Lauren] del Valle.
Lauren says Ashley lived a charmed life in a sprawling, million dollar home; a total contradiction to the abuse, drugs and poverty she writes about on her ‘MySpace’ page. “I never witnessed or knew of any abuse. Or heard of any abuse here,” said del Valle.”
Kristen’s family said she left home at 17 to be a singer. Del Valle recalled that Kristen wanted to become famous.
She did, but her 15 minutes of fame may only have about 10 minutes left.
A video interview link is here. Don’t miss it. Really.
UPDATE: Dad speaks, too. Kristen initially told her Dad she was “in a little bit of trouble.”
— DRJ
Oh, ye’ll take the high road,
nk (8a8387) — 3/15/2008 @ 9:49 pmAnd I’ll take the low road
A link to a video interview is here. Don’t miss it. Really.
Why?
Seriously, why? Why is this even remotely important?
I mean, I understand why the Spitzer story is important. Governor of a highly-populated state gets implicated in a scandal (of any type, whether it be sex, drugs, money, whatever) and resigns, yeah, there’s a story there.
But what in the world is newsworthy about the childhood of this woman? The fact that she ended up working as a prostitute is sad, but why should it end up on the news? Her childhood isn’t relevant to the story of Spitzer’s resignation. All that stories like this one can do is satisfy the same sense of morbid curiosity that causes people to gawk at accidents or pass on “juicy” gossip, and further embarrass and hurt the people in “Kristen”‘s life who actually care about her, such as (presumably) her parents, any siblings or other close relatives she might have, and so on. (Sadly, not all parents actually care about their children — but most do, and all should.)
“Juicy” gossip like this hurts people — parents, relatives — who don’t deserve to be hurt. Give this video a miss. Really.
Robin Munn (f35ac1) — 3/15/2008 @ 9:59 pmRobin Munn,
There is a recurring request here from commenters who want pictures of pretty girls. Kristen is a pretty girl and there are pictures at the link.
The point was not to capitalize on this story at Kristen’s expense or to bring undue attention to her and her family. She’s done a good job of that on her own.
DRJ (a431ca) — 3/15/2008 @ 10:08 pmA woman lying?
I’m shocked, SHOCKED I tell you!!
Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec) — 3/15/2008 @ 10:18 pm#4
What, you prefer them kneeling ?!
Vermont Neighbor (c6313b) — 3/15/2008 @ 10:26 pmBesides, the girl is not an innocent in this. She chose to be a prostitute and have relations with a married man who was a powerful political figure. She is shopping her story around… IIRC the current offer is $100K for a sit-down interview. She lied about her sad and abuse-filled childhood on her MySpace to establish street-cred and sell 99-cent downloads of her song (which has made her a ton of money since this hit, you’ll notice that it’s still being downloaded, right?).
Why should she get the benefits of all this notoriety without any of the consequences? Because it might hurt her family? Sorry, they’re already hurt because of her actions… not anybody else’s. If I rob a bank and get caught, should I not make the news because it might embarrass and hurt my family? She was involved in a criminal undertaking and is fair game.
Besides, pictures of pretty girls… c’mon!! How often do we get that here?
Just sayin’
Stashiu3 (460dc1) — 3/15/2008 @ 10:51 pmRobin Munn wrote: I mean, I understand why the Spitzer story is important. Governor of a highly-populated state gets implicated in a scandal (of any type, whether it be sex, drugs, money, whatever) and resigns, yeah, there’s a story there…But what in the world is newsworthy about the childhood of this woman? The fact that she ended up working as a prostitute is sad, but why should it end up on the news? Her childhood isn’t relevant to the story of Spitzer’s resignation…“Juicy” gossip like this hurts people — parents, relatives — who don’t deserve to be hurt. Give this video a miss. Really.
I am a huge fan of Laura Ingraham, who, like you, is also sounding the alarm to forego any further sordid details in the Spitzer affair scandal.
I’m going to go to bed now, but next time I sign on, I’m watching the video. Why? Because I don’t like having the wool pulled over my eyes, that’s why. I don’t trust the MSM to give me the real story, so I seek as many reliable sources as I can. There are dupes out there who believe Scooter Libby leaked Valerie Plame’s name because they trust the news orgs to tell them the facts. I know better because I don’t trust them — not even Fox News.
If she is indeed lying about being abused, Ms. DuPre is playing you and other news consumers for suckers just as much as Eliot Mess did. She wants to be seen as a good girl whose circumstances turned her bad. That would be tragic, but if she is in reality just a spoiled, greedy tramp who discovered she could make more money with her vagina than her brain (or her voice), I will refuse to give her what she wants from me most — sympathy.
L.N. Smithee (46a5bf) — 3/16/2008 @ 2:58 amYou all may remember a guy by the name of Robert Van Winkle. He had a huge hit record and video that made him a superstar virtually overnight. Trouble is, it was a rap song, and Van Winkle had a “street cred” problem, being a middle-class white boy performing the music of the inner-city poor. So he made up stories of growing up in streets and schools meaner than he had really experienced. Eventually the truth caught up with Mr. Van Winkle, who, if you haven’t figured it out yet, was known as Vanilla Ice.
L.N. Smithee (46a5bf) — 3/16/2008 @ 3:04 amI do see Robin’s point, but the hurt to her family is really Ashley’s responsibility. Too bad she didn’t think of that when she was lying on her back at night, or lying on her MySpace page.
If I were her mom or dad, I don’t know which I’d be more hurt about: her choosing to be a prostitute after I tried to raise her right, or her slandering our family by claiming someone in it abused her. Even without media coverage, that’s a pretty bad two-fer all by itself.
no one you know (1ebbb1) — 3/16/2008 @ 3:47 amHave not had a chance to see the video yet, but a question has already arisen: “Lauren del Valle”????
Did all the girls in this neighborhood adopt potential porn star monikers, just in case?
driver (faae10) — 3/16/2008 @ 4:58 amFrom the Sunday Times via Drudge:
“Far from providing “an exquisite array of carefully selected companions” who would make clients’ lives “more peaceful, balanced, beautiful and meaningful” – as the [Emperors] club’s website boasted – it often scrambled to find prostitutes not addled by drugs.
The court papers, including extracts from wiretaps and reports from an undercover agent who infiltrated the club, reveal endless haggling between clients and pimps over payment and the quality of the girls provided. One girl was described as looking “like a butcher”; another was described as “clueless”.
One girl left an assignation early because she had to pick up her children from school. A London-based girl did not want to provide sex because £500 an hour was “not a price I would ever consider of doing it for [sic]”.
It has also become clear that although the club rated its girls according to their “education, sophistication and ambiance [sic]” – with a three-diamond girl fetching $1,000 an hour and a seven-diamond girl rating $3,100 an hour – the prostitutes were interchangeable and adopted different names to meet a client’s request. One girl had to be reminded that her name for a date was Samantha.”
It’s a good thing Spitzer went into law and not business. Boy, did he ever get cheated here.
nk (8a8387) — 3/16/2008 @ 5:21 amThose who don’t understand the significance of this information should consider the notion of the prostitute as victim. This is no victim.
Pablo (99243e) — 3/16/2008 @ 6:47 amThere are a couple of lessons here and watching that video helps. First, the public is being hoodwinked by these phony tormented childhood stories. A book was suddenly withdrawn from publication last week when the author’s faked childhood story was exposed as a lie. Here is another one. Yet another is related above. How did we find out about these lies ? Not from the MSM. People who knew the perp told the story. The whole prostitution industry is exposed as the tawdry business it is. None of these girls were apparently educated or sophisticated, except in a criminal sense. Second, this one at least, seems to have chosen her life as a substitute for education and hard work. Third, a man as powerful as Spitzer seems to have been as gullible as any drunken sailor on a Saturday night liberty.
I think that is worth knowing. I knew it but there are kids out there who don’t.
Mike K (86bddb) — 3/16/2008 @ 6:54 amIf I were her mom or dad, I don’t know which I’d be more hurt about: her choosing to be a prostitute after I tried to raise her right, or her slandering our family by claiming someone in it abused her
That is some nasty piece of female, must have been Oprahfried.
syn (1017f1) — 3/16/2008 @ 7:09 amThe only thing important here, which is the story that will be missed, is that we are creating a generation or two of self involved morons who think being famous is success, and morality is so relative that whoring yourself out is acceptable as long as your Johns are rich and famous.
martin (86a2e8) — 3/16/2008 @ 8:55 amNot that it is very important, but something doesn’t add up. The father is a “Stonemason” that now lives in Kill Devil Hills, NC. (Outer Banks) If he is truely a “Stonemason”, how does that reconcile with the “fact” (according to her old teenage friend) that her family was “rich”? I do not know many bricklayers that are wealthy. Just curious.
NeoOHIOCon (ec9108) — 3/16/2008 @ 8:55 amI noticed that too and wondered if this was another Monica Lewinski story with the mother marrying a rich second husband.
Mike K (86bddb) — 3/16/2008 @ 9:02 amyes, because prostitutes are evil, i tell you, satan in a slinky dress, who but hoists her hem a mere 3-4 inches, revealing the comely turn of thigh that the world’s most morally upright man is powerless to resist, like a pod person from invasion of the body snatchers, the other is now in control. his eyes glaze over, his pulse and respiration accelerate as he reaches for his wallet, no longer the righteous pillar of rectitude, but a slave to unbridled, all-consuming lust! turn the crucifix around on the wall so jesus won’t have to look at what happens next.
assistant devil's advocate (d629cd) — 3/16/2008 @ 9:17 amNot. Created.
We’re already there, man. Why do you think people run from the cops in LA?
Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec) — 3/16/2008 @ 9:38 am“She did, but her 15 minutes of fame may only have about 10 minutes left.”
Yeah, but those 10 minutes are worth about 1,000 times more than her 60 minutes with Eliot!
Tony Iovino (8e5007) — 3/16/2008 @ 9:38 amConsidering the house they grew up in, I would suspect he owns the stone-laying business that does the work, not him doing the wirk personally.
And dude, you ever priced the materials and labor for a full, real-stone fireplace surround or a real-stone retaining wall?
Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec) — 3/16/2008 @ 9:41 amThere are no $2,000 an hour whores, only $2,000 an hour johns.
I would say that there is some legitmate interest in how and why women chose prostitution. One would hope to innoculate one’s daughters against any such career choice. A stable home life and a strong father figure seems to help.
Still, the major focus should be the untold story behind the detection and prosecution of the governor. There is a LOT more to come on this.
As to jail time, didn’t Chuch Berry get 20 months in jail for crossing state lines for immoral purposes? Spitzer shouldn’t get preferential treatment.
Joseph Somsel (e5cbf5) — 3/16/2008 @ 11:07 amIn fairness, we don’t know whether Kristen’s story was completely fabricated. She may have been abused at some point – not all neighbors know when that happens. However, one problem with telling a few white lies is that it taints everything you say.
DRJ (a431ca) — 3/16/2008 @ 11:17 amI tend to agree with Robin Munn’s point re the video. Especially after reading Kristen’s dad’s comments. It almost feels like an unnecessary further invasion of privacy, not Kristen’s, but her parents. Its good for me to remember that they have had their lives tipped over by this as well. I dont need to see a video to know that.
“If I were her mom or dad, I don’t know which I’d be more hurt about: her choosing to be a prostitute after I tried to raise her right, or her slandering our family by claiming someone in it abused her. “
Both her being a prostitute and slandering the family would seem to be equally difficult as both would indicate some serious issues on Kristen’s part and perhaps some failings in the parents’ case. I hope they at least can have some privacy to work through both issues as they are not in public office and holding the public’s trust.
Dana (443780) — 3/16/2008 @ 11:18 amWho cares? She’s a whore. period. Eliots an idiot period. So what if she was abused,rich poor or whatever. millions of people come from tough circumstances and make a life for themselves. Do society a favor here lawyers. Put your brother in jail. Put the whore in jail. Nothing else to see here folks just some s**t left out on the streets. Move along. Quick merciless retribution by society will help the boys stay in line. yeeeesh
paul from fl (47918a) — 3/16/2008 @ 1:12 pm“…morality is so relative that whoring yourself out is acceptable…”
Another Drew (8018ee) — 3/16/2008 @ 1:14 pmBut, enough talk about the media!
Ba-ZING!
Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec) — 3/16/2008 @ 1:21 pmThe stepfather is the rich guy, an oral surgeon in Jersey. He and the mother are who she grew up with until she left to live with bio-Dad at 17. You’ll note that moving in with him is referred to as “leaving home because of abuse.”
Pablo (99243e) — 3/16/2008 @ 1:45 pmHandcarved headstones are no doubt the best chioce available, all in various types of stone the hand carving adds a certain personal element to the memorial/monument. Personally stonework created using only machines doesnt have the same level of creativlty in my opinion.
headstones (82f22a) — 6/27/2008 @ 12:33 pm