While attending his regular yoga class, rap mogul Russell Simmons noticed problems in the movement of a classmate, so he corrected her and they carried on. “Later, while doing a twisting triangle,” Simmons wrote on his blog. “I noticed again that she needed a little direction. So about an hour later when the class was over, she thanked me for the guidance and introduced herself as Ashley Dupré. I said to myself, ‘Oh my god, this 5 foot, 1 inch god-seeker was the $4000 “escort’ of Governor Elliot Spitzer.” The pair struck up an unlikely friendship and now Dupré has her own blog on Simmons’ Global Grind website.
In Dupré’s blog, entitled “Surviving Spitzer,” she writes about how she’s trying to move on from her tumultuous past year and learn from her mistakes. Simmons has gone from mentoring her in yoga to being a kind of life coache. “Russell was there, reaching out to give me hand placement tips and educate me about the virtues of yoga that he’s discovered throughout the years,” Dupré wrote. “He explained the importance of understanding that our actions sometimes have far reaching consequences – a lesson that certainly resonated with me.”
Simmons has also influenced Dupré’s forthcoming tell-all book. She said, “One of the things Russell shared with me is the role that charity plays in his life. I want that in my life. I want the book I’m working on to inspire people and not just be a trivial account of the business I was in.”