Spitzer Call Girl Ashley Dupre Grants First Interview

Ashley Dupre, the 23 year old former escort whose escapades forced Eliot Spitzer to resign as New York State Governor appeared in her first television interview with Diane Sawyer on ABCs news magazine show 20/20. The interview aired Friday November 21, 2008.

According to a federal government affidavid, Dupre was alleged to have worked as a call girl under the professional name Kristen, and had a rendezvous with Spitzer on February 13, 2008, at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. Federal authorities investigating Spitzer's financial transactions uncovered the scandal.

Dupre was not charged with a crime and granted immunity in return for her testimony. Dupre was subpoenaed to testify in the grand jury investigation of former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.

Eliot Spitzer resigned as New York Governor on March 12, 2008 amidst the controversy and scandal surrounding him and the Emperors Club VIP escort service for which Ashley Dupre worked for.

Spitzer was referred to and identified in federal court documents as Client Number 9.

Ashley Dupre says at the time she did not know Eliot Spitzer was the Governor of New York. According to Dupre:

"He looked familiar. But I was 22 years old, I didn't, I wasn't reading the papers, I was so involved in my life and I was so selfish and caught up in my life and I didn't know who he was. And I was whoever they wanted me to be, and he was whoever he wanted to be."

Four have pleaded guilty to running escort service as a prostitution service. Last Thursday, federal prosecutors announced that they would not raise criminal charges against Spitzer.

Diane Sawyer's 20/20 interview with Ashley Dupree is part of a continuing news investigation entitled "Prostitution in America" that looks at the prostitution business in the United States.