Frank Parlato’s work in exposing Nxivm has been reported hundreds of times in the media. Below is a list of publications that have mentioned his work or quoted him as an investigative journalist.
Although many media outlets covered the story, Parlato is widely credited for being the man most responsible for taking the notorious and wealthy Nxivm cult down and bringing their leaders to justice.
Actress Catherine Oxenberg wrote in the acknowledgment of her book, Captive, the names the reporters and producers who helped her in rescuing her daughter from the cult, giving the final and highest praise to Frank Parlato.
“I’m grateful to the members of the media for the relentless coverage given to exposing the atrocities of NXIVM, helping to generate much needed public outrage. Thanks to Barry Meier [NY Times], Liz McNeil [People], Brendon Lyons [Albany Times Union], Megyn Kelly [Today Show], Glenn Ruppel [20-20], Elizabeth Vargas [20-20], Tim Uehlinger [Dateline], Chemene Pelzer [Today Show], John Filimon [Producer], Alicia Powers [Inside Edition], Scott Thompson [Publicist] and many more. And a very special thanks to Frank Parlato: because of your tireless efforts, hundreds defected and escaped the horrors of branding and slavery.” – Catherine Oxenberg
Below is a partial list of articles with their links that mention Frank Parlato and his role in the takedown of the sex slaver Nxivm cult.
Comments From Media About Frank Parlato
Frank Parlato’s work has been cited in the media hundreds of times,
Parlato is credited with breaking the Nxivm branding and blackmail story starting with his June 5, 2017 Branded Slaves and Master Raniere; Sources: Human branding part of Raniere-inspired women’s group.
His series caused a panic in the secretive cult, leading to the exodus of hundreds of members. It also led to the New York Times picking up on his story, crediting Parlato for breaking the story, which in turn led to a federal investigation into Nxivm and to the conviction of its leaders. Here are a few examples of the media acknowledging his work.
“Frank Parlato is to NXIVM what Leah Remini is to Scientology.”
“Many of Mr. Raniere’s followers learned of the secret society from a website run by a Buffalo-area businessman, Frank R. Parlato Jr. Mr. Parlato had been locked in a long legal battle with two sisters, Sara and Clare Bronfman, who are members of Nxivm and the daughters of Edgar Bronfman, the deceased chairman of Seagram Company….
“In early June [2017], Mr. Parlato published the first in a torrent of salacious posts under the headline, ‘Branded Slaves and Master Raniere.’”
“The cult is called DOS, believed to be short for “dominus obsequious sororium” – Latin for the “master over the slave women”, and is the dark side of so-called group NXIVM, according to Parlato – who was the first to lift the lid on the cult’s sordid activities on his website The Frank Report.”
“Frank Parlato… first broke the story, in June, of women being forcibly branded as part of the NXIVM ‘sorority.'”
“Former NXIVM publicist Frank Parlato has worked for years to document the inner workings of the group, which purports to be a self-help organization.”
“Former Nxivm publicist Frank Parlato was first to expose the alleged “sex cult” on his website before the New York Times picked up on the story last year. He told VICE that Vancouver was one of the most active Nxivm communities outside of Albany, New York.”
“Parlato … spent years fighting to expose Keith Raniere, who is accused of branding and enslaving female followers of his organization, NXIVM.”
“Frank Parlato, the journalist who first published the horrors of NXIVM.”
“Frank Parlato, an ex-NXIVM publicist turned whistleblower, was the first to write about the group on his website … and he’s written extensively about it ever since….
“According to Frank Parlato, who first exposed Allison Mack as a member of Nxivm, the actress was a ‘pimp’ for Keith Raniere and was responsible for bringing young women to his ‘secret sex lair’, a two-floor house in Albany, New York with a huge bed and a hot tub”.
“As pressure on Raniere and NXIVM began to mount following the revelations of branding that were first exposed by Parlato and then in a lengthy piece in The New York Times last year, the alleged cult leader fled to a $10,000 a week villa inside a luxury gated community in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, sometime between late October and early November.”
“Parlato has written more than 1,700 critical posts about Nxivm and Raniere on his website, and says he has been sued multiple times by the group… Parlato, who has developed a large network of Nxivm sources over the years, was the first person to report about the alleged branding of female members and wrote that Mack’s arrest was imminent days before it happened.”
“Frank Parlato, a former NXIVM publicist turned whistleblower whose independent reporting is widely credited with helping to spur the FBI investigation into the group.”
“Frank Parlato…. runs several websites devoted to exposing Nxivm’s underbelly. (…) Once a powerful ‘self-help’ organization whose supporters included the billionaire Bronfman family, Nxivm was exposed by Parlato… as a violent sex cult.”
Cosmopolitan
Accused NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere has been found guilty of sex trafficking
“It’s also alleged that the group introduced the barbaric practice of branding, which Mack first created. In June 2017, investigative reporter Frank Parlato reported that Mack’s initials were branded on women’s pubic regions.”
“Parlato, who was the first to uncover the group’s twisted secret practices and report them on his website Frank Report… has helped many women escape the cult.”
“It was this knowledge of everything happening within the controversial cult that led to Parlato essentially bringing NXIVM down. He started sharing the information he gathered on the sadistic rituals the group was following — especially branding women — with the FBI in 2015, according to Oxygen.”
(…) “It wasn’t until 2017 that Parlato shared this info again on his own site, the Frank Report. At this point, Raniere still had not been arrested for crimes Parlato revealed to authorities. Once Parlato started sharing more of the group’s secrets online, though, it started to get attention. The New York Times credits Parlato for breaking open the case by making the branding rituals public.”
“Her tireless work included deep-dives on the history of predatory behavior in cults, in addition to equally extensive research into Raniere and NXIVM themselves. She told her story to Frank Parlato of the “Frank Report” blog, as well as to Barry Meier of the New York Times.”
“In a bizarre voice recording, shared with The Sun, moaning Raniere asks his “nemesis” Frank Parlato – the man widely credited with destroying Nxivm and bringing him to justice – for help.”
Times Union“Frank Parlato, who broke story of sex cult, receives plea from jailed ‘Vanguard'”
“For people following the NXIVM story, The Frank Report is a treasure trove of information. Parlato publishes multiple blogs per day featuring breaking news about NXIVM, including updates about Clare Bronfman’s appeal and Keith Raniere’s upcoming sentencing developments.”
“Frank Parlato, the group’s one-time publicist, is widely credited with bringing NXIVM down”
Today, Raniere spoke with – of all people – the man who helped bring him down, web journalist Frank Parlato.
“In an interview aired on NBC Nightly News, the NXIVM co-founder [Keith Raniere] talked exclusively to NBC News and journalist Frank Parlato from a New York federal prison, revealing that he believes he’s “innocent” of the crimes he was convicted of in June 2019.”
“In the HBO docuseries “The Vow,” it was revealed that Parlato broke the story that a group within NXIVM was treating women as sex slaves and branding them with Raniere’s initials”
“Raniere currently languishes at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center for a string of heinous crimes including forcing women into sexual slavery and child porn material. As he awaits his fate for a permanent prison placement, he spoke to investigative journalist Frank Parlato – the man widely credited with destroying Nxivm and bringing Raniere to justice.”
“Frank Parlato, who is said to have played a crucial role in destroying the sex cult, shared a series of phone call transcripts in which Raniere details his concerns.”
“Journalist and blogger Frank Parlato, who was the first person to report about the alleged branding of female members, previously told PEOPLE that Mack and Clyne were married in February 2017.”
“It was journalist Frank Parlato who began to expose the role of Clara Luz with Nxivm. Parlato is the reporter who has written the most about the case, and his investigation was responsible, to a great extent, for the fall of leader Keith Raniere. In other words, the exposure of her role is not only “an allegation”, but involves relevant documented data.”
Raniere was arrested in late March of 2018, due in large part to the efforts of former associate Frank Parlato, who alleged that Mack was a major part of the operation. “She started as a slave and she became a slave master,” said Parlato. “Her nickname among defectors is ‘Pimp Mack.'”
