The Scandalous Sex Website Documentary That Is Dominating Netflix Right Now

Netflix has built a real reputation over the past several years for its exposé documentaries, and the streamer has added another title to that library that's already drawing a lot of attention. The three-part series in question is "Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal," which explores the eponymous, infamous, and still-active adult "affair" website. If you were combing the Internet in the 2000s without a spam blocker, you almost certainly encountered your fair share of barely-suitable-for-work ads for the site, most of which featured its memetic "Life is short. Have an affair" tagline.

While the days of Flash Player and Myspace are when Ashley Madison built its questionable reputation, the service is still running. It's also continued to draw widespread criticism for a number of reasons, most notably the business model itself, which encourages unfaithfulness in marriages and relationships. The Netflix documentary explores the history of the site in detail, interviewing various couples who've had different experiences with it and diving into the highly publicized 2015 data breach that exposed the identities of millions of users.

The miniseries also discusses the numerous allegations that Ashley Madison is largely composed of female bot accounts, scamming would-be cheaters with fake conversations. In the past, former employees of the company have confirmed the widespread use of bots on the site. If you're looking for your next Netflix documentary binge, this may be a natural pick, though the response hasn't been universally positive.

"Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal" was released on Netflix on May 15, and since then, it's gotten a lot of attention, cruising high within the streamer's global top 10. At the time of this writing, it's sitting at number two for English-language TV shows, right underneath the first half of "Bridgerton" Season 3.

Reviews for the series have been a bit mixed, however. The documentary currently holds a 50% fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and a dismal 30% audience score. "There's an interesting story to be told here, one that probes how the connections the internet offers has fundamentally shifted the state of human relationships," the Daily Telegraph's Keith Watson wrote in his one-out-of-five review. "But 'Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal' comes up frustratingly short." Decider's Joel Keller gave the series a more positive review but compared it unfavorably to "The Ashley Madison Affair," a 2023 ABC docuseries covering the same subject. That previous show holds a perfect 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Netflix has gotten a decent amount of chuff over the last several years for putting out documentaries that are more style and drama than substantive reporting. You can trace that line of criticism all the way back to the early pandemic phenomenon that was "Tiger King," which doesn't tell you everything about the true story. According to the viewership numbers, though, that isn't stopping subscribers from tuning into this latest exposé.