A one minute video – Behind the Cover discusses how the New York Times Magazine editors chose the cover picture for their Sunday Magazine story about NXIVM and its leader, Keith Raniere.
This cover was chosen.
Jake Silverstein, editor in chief, said: “The red wash on Stefan Ruiz’s portrait of Keith Raniere instantly clues a reader in to the milieu of the story — we’re in the territory of the lurid, strange and possibly criminal. Placing him behind a wall of words casts him as a kind of Oz-like figure, leading Nxivm from behind a curtain.”
Keith posed for these pictures in the Monterrey Mexico area on condition that the location was not disclosed. Here are four pictures that emerged of your Vanguard, suitable for framing and worshiping.
From the NY Times story: “Raniere presented himself as a great philosopher, an ethical man and a scientist pushing the bounds of human capability.”
“Members believed that Raniere could heal them of emotional traumas, set them free from their fears and attachments, clear patterns of destructive thinking. Some believed he could heal them sexually too. “
“He also seemed to have a unique, pulsating idea that resonated with women, particularly wealthy ones. “
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“Raniere was called ‘Vanguard’ because he was the leader of their philosophical movement.”
Read the complete cover story “The ‘Sex Cult’ That Preached Empowerment.”