By Maia Efrem August 28, 2015

Ahh, nothing like the smell of Schadenfreude in the morning.

The Ashley Madison saga continues as CEO Noel Biderman after a third wave of client and website data was dumped, exposing Biderman’s very own alleged extramarital affair along with the other 37 million users of the adultery website.

According to BuzzFeed News, nearly 300 leaked Biderman emails from July 2012 to this past May indicate he had a long-term affair affair with a Toronto woman who introduced herself as “Melisa from the spa” and with at least two other women as well.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

While I understand the attraction that such gossip-heavy news can hold, here’s my problem: is it really news?

I find the zeal with which news outlets have pursued the story unsettling.

In the last few weeks, media outlets have exposed, discussed and relished in every little detail of this scandal. Public opinion has been judge, jury and executioner in a blood thirsty hunt for the next celebrity to sacrifice on the altar of morality. But who are we to judge?

Ashley Madison didn’t teach people how to cheat. And outing users as cheaters is not in the public interest. What goes on in people’s bedrooms, while salacious, and sure, riveting, is no one’s business. And to sic the morality police on the inner workings of other people’s marriages is in itself immoral.

People looking to have an affair, will have an affair, whether Ashley Madison was available to them or not. But it looks like finding a woman to have an affair with on the site was harder than picking up a woman in the produce section of a supermarket. Of the 5.5 million female users, most were bots, fake or inactive accounts. Only 1,500 of the women had ever read their messages, 2,400 had chatted with other users and 9,700 replied to a message.

So maybe Ashley Madison was the safest place to save a marriage. How’s that for a twist?

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount