The following report is based on more than a dozen interviews with former members of NXIVM and friends of Allison Mack who are dismayed at her continued involvement in the sex-slaver NXIVM cult.
In Part 1: The secret story of how Allison Mack became a sex slaver, Artvoice revealed that Mack – desiring an intimate relationship with cult guru Keith Raniere – pledged her financial assets to ensure she would never have sex with another man.
Raniere took control of her life. He advised her to quit acting and she did. He placed her on a low calorie diet, explaining that she must not eat more than 800 calories per day. Raniere likes women rail-thin. He told her that little sleep, a low-cal diet, and sex with him would transform her into an enlightened being.
He told her one thing more: [as he taught other women] that he was healing her of ‘disintegrations’ though sex. It was not important if she had an orgasm. It was important for her that he had an orgasm. If he ejaculated on her, he taught, she would be his slave forever and saved from all future rebirths. Allison bought it hook, line and sinker.
He further told her that he could die if she had sex with another man. Not that he was jealous. He restricted her for her own sake. He was ready to die for her and others, but his mission to save the world was not complete, he said.
“What does it mean, if you’re sex desire is so strong that you would sacrifice the well being of the world?” he asked her and other women. Allison had tears in her eyes.
Raniere said Allison needed more collateral. He wanted her to advance in the harem. He said there might be important work. She was thrilled. But there were no more assets to pledge to him. And because she was no longer working as an actress, but doing Raniere’s work full time for his mission, she was spending money fast.
“What else can I give,” she asked.
Nude pictures and videos. “If you want to continue our relationship, they must be graphic,” Raniere said. “Even if I had your money, you could go and earn again as an actress. I need pictures that I could release that will destroy your public image. If you don’t want to, I understand. But remember I have taken on your sins. If you betray me, I would die. If I die, the world will go into darkness for 10,000 years.”
Allison Mack – as the Feds may have already discovered following their raid on Raniere’s townhouse – gave him pornographic photos, with her legs spread and her face in the photos.
But that wasn’t enough. In a few more months, Raniere wanted more collateral. How many graphic nudes of Allison Mack did he need? He had plenty. He wanted something else:
“Everybody has done something to be ashamed of,” he told her. “Confess on video something damning, something shocking. Something that could destroy your future, embarrass you everywhere – make it impossible for you to restart your career. Collateral that would make people hate Allison Mack, if I released it.”
Allison was confused. “What if I never did anything wicked?,” she said.
“Make something up. Say you did something: Molest a child. Embezzlement. Fraud. Put it on video. If you say you will never betray me, what does it mean, if you won’t do what I need? What does it mean if you won’t make every effort to be taught by me?”
Allison gave him the collateral. She confessed to deeds she never committed. She moved to Albany to be near him. Then, like all his women, she started waiting for him to call and come when he commanded. Sometimes, he would not show up for days. Allison would look out the window of her home waiting for him to pass by. Sometimes she would frantically ask other women if they had seen him. And when he finally came to see her, her life was complete and she was ecstatic.
Raniere was pleased with Mack. He understood her value to him. He knew she could – more than any other woman in the cult – find young, slender and attractive women. He put Allison on a 800 calorie per day diet. He told he she must awaken at any time at night he texted her and never again sleep a full eight hours as she was prone to do before he deigned to teach her. She soon became sleep deprived and struggled to stick to her low calorie, meatless diet. She was losing weight. She developed bulimia. She would eat too much then rush to the toilet to vomit. She started carrying around pre-measured meals. She started chewing sugarless gum to fight off cravings of not having enough food. She was constantly chewing gum. Raniere then required her to jog at least 30 miles per week – while remaining on the low cal diet.
Raniere liked the idea of collateral, and decided it could work to teach women on a much larger scale. He ordered Allison to find other women. Then one day, Raniere and Allison instituted their plan: They added collars, a hierarchy, where slaves recruit other slaves, and pubic branding. They called it DOS. It began with Keith Raniere saying he needed assurance that Allison Mack would not have sex with another man.
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Stay tuned for part 3
It’s difficult not to view Mack as a brainwashed victim. She was physically starving, mentally brainwashed, exploited and financially ruined. But she is being criminally prosecuted.
At least she didn’t join ISIS. Are the stupid ISIS girls who get raped every day victims too?
[…] Raniere groomed Mack for his sexual satisfaction, while the cult consumed her life savings. She became financially indebted to the cult. […]
[…] Raniere groomed Mack for his sexual satisfaction, while the cult consumed her life savings. She became financially indebted to the cult. […]
[…] Raniere groomed Mack for his sexual satisfaction, while the cult consumed her life savings. She became financially indebted to the cult. […]
Hella hot. But I kinda doubt this 800 kcal thing, because if true, she’s not nearly as thin as she should be. Good for Keith that his thing worked out so long. More power to him.
Mack may have been victimized 10+ years ago because she was a young, foolish and needy narcissist and therefore an easy mark for a predator like Raniere. However, today she is a grown woman in her mid-30s, who is choosing to stay, rather than come forward. Many others who have left NXIVM were exposed to the same brainwashing and love bombing tactics. They found the courage to exit and start to reclaim their lives. Many have shown remorse.
Why shouldn’t Mack assume responsibility for being a lead recruiter for this cult and be held accountable for her actions? What she is alleged to be involved in isn’t tame stuff. Branding human flesh? Sex trafficking? Extortion? Money laundering? The consequences of these alleged crimes shouldn’t’ be overlooked.
Unless a credible professional diagnoses Mack as being mentally incompetent and unable to discern right from wrong, she has to serve time. I suspect the acting skills she used as a top recruiter will be on display if she attempts to plead victim instead of co-conspirator in this case. If recent accounts are accurate, she may have continued to play an instrumental role in recruiting more girls and young women for DOS even AFTER the NYT story broke last year. This is no longer a victim deserving of empathy. This is perpetrator.
…if she hadn’t started branding other women. I would have seen her as a victim if she hadn’t done that. But she transcended victimhood and became an abuser. I can’t reconcile that. She needs to go to jail for this.
If it is true she is still holding the slave troop together, let alone orchestrating ongoing recruitment efforts, she seems beyond rehabilitation to me.
Surely, no judge is going to let someone, who hid out in Mexico for months on end, be released on bail. Maybe more slaves will wake up when he is held over for trial. Or when Mack finally gets arrested.
Maybe I should try to have more compassion. I would have a lot more respect if people were actually taking any personal responsibility for the things they have done. This is why I respect Sarah Edmonson and Mark Vicente. They have both talked publicly about their regrets. That is actually ethical.
We are all hanging on the edge of our seats, but these things can roll slowly. In Parlato’s case, it is very good for him. He has to be able to confront his accusers, and people really think twice when your accusers show up in orange, if they even show up. The ones not arrested may be hiding out in other countries. His indictments were in November of 2015, and there is still no trial for him, yet.
So raping and grooming them is ok because she’s a woman?
You asked is she a victim or a victimizer.
She is a victim FIRST, and a victimizer would come second.
Ultimately KEITH is the one who should be responsible. It’s like saying if a person abuses a child and the child doesn’t come forward but goes on to abuse another child… is the child at fault?
Allison was lost in her life. Being an actress didn’t fulfill her. Like many people she felt lost but instead of falling in with a good crowd of people who would support her, encourage her, lead her towards things that didn’t humiliate, degrade or shame her… she met Keith and did all 3 and much more…
Keith should be thrown in prison for life and be forced to have sex with black men with large penises every day.
He is no different than Jim Jones, David Koresh, Charles Manson or those lunatics.
Allison is not the only one…. Nicki Clyne bought this crap and so did India Oxenberg.
We all know that KEITH is the one who should be punished. Whether they choose to punish Allison and the others or give them therapy is another matter. I just hope they can find some life and that it doesn’t lead to suicide.
There have been many women and men who have come out of cults and gone on to lead fulfilling lives.
It’s just all this media attention will be online forever.
It’s a sad case.
No one really wins in the end.
The only upside is another cult is taken down and that is a positive. No more women will sufffer
Agreed that she could be both a victim and a victimizer. Granted if she was sleeping well, and eating healthfully she might see what she was doing is wrong. I dunno. She’ll need a good lawyer.
“Keith should be thrown in prison for life and be forced to have sex with black men with large penises every day.”
I have some concerns with this comment. Specifically ‘black’. Is this because you consider rape by black men to be more degrading than by white men? A worse punishment for Keith? You wish for the existence of a racial stereotype of black men desiring to rape prisoners, for your own satisfaction no less. I think you have some racial issues you need to think about. Is IR your prefered porn genre?
“Keith should be thrown in prison for life and be forced to have sex with black men with large penises every day.”
The next girl you develop a crush on should be in a loving relationship with a black man with a large penis. You should get into conversation with your favorite female (or gay male) family member and find out (s)he is open to being in a relationship with a black man, irrespective of his penile length. In other words, screw you bro.
Otherwise, I agree with your point. But it is worrying that she may be want to continue his practices in fear of him dying and sending the world into darkness for 10,000 years, so some rehabilitation should definitely be in order.
“Some of them want to use you, some of them want to be used by you. Some of them want to abuse you. Some of them want to be abused”
She’s annugly jizz monkey