Inside NXIVM, the New York 'sex cult' that drew in Smallville actress Allison Mack
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/10/inside-nxivm-new-york-sex-cult-actress-allison-mack-drawn-secretive/
The highly successful Hollywood actress did not appear to be a lost soul. Allison Mack was seen by friends on the set of Smallville, the drama about Superman’s early years, as open, friendly, and highly professional. For 10 years she played Clark Kent’s best friend – a sought-after role in a hit show, and the culmination of years of work as a child actor and model in Germany, where she was born.
But by 2010, as Smallville’s run was coming to an end, she was looking for answers.
She found them with Keith Raniere.
New York-born Mr Raniere, now 58, had founded in the early 1990s an organisation called NXIVM, which offered “executive success programmes” and self-help therapies.
“NXIVM is a community guided by humanitarian principles that seek to empower people and answer important questions about what it means to be human,” the company’s website still says.
There was more to those “humanitarian principles” than meets the eye, however.
Mr Raniere is now in jail in New York City, awaiting his trial on charges of running a “sex cult”. Mack has pleaded guilty to racketeering and forced labour charges, and faces 40 years in prison when sentenced in September.
“I have come to the conclusion that I must take full responsibility for my conduct and that’s why I am pleading guilty today,” she said, sobbing in court on April 8. Her distress was such that Judge Nicholas Garaufis paused proceedings to ask if she was able to continue.
“I’m very sorry for the victims of this case,” she added.
“I’m very sorry for who I’ve hurt through my misguided adherence to Keith Raniere’s teachings.”
Mr Raniere, a Svengali-like figure, wielded immense power over the estimated 16,000 people – many of them young women - who flocked to his seminars.
Mack previously credited Mr Raniere with helping her reach a new level with her acting after Smallville ended, encouraging her to try theatre.
She explained in 2015 that she was drawn to the enlightenment he promised. After hearing about him from a friend, she recalled, “I was like: ‘That sounds pretty cool.’ I trusted my friend, I took one of his workshops and I really was moved by the perspective that I gained.
"I started to see what I was missing, that I thought I would get from success, was a joyful inner world.”
In early 2017, she elaborated further.
"I have a wonderful teacher and mentor named Keith Raniere, who really gave me some incredible guidance," she said.
"I think everyone needs a mentor. I don't think any of us really know the answers without a little bit of wisdom. If you aren't willing to be humble enough to seek wisdom from other people, I think you're missing a lot of really incredible opportunities to build a certain amount of depth and value in your life that you wouldn't have if you didn't have somebody to help guide you.
“I chose to have this mentor in my life, and I was talking to him about my struggle, confusion, and not knowing what to do. He said, 'Why don't you take some time and think about? Give yourself some space to figure out who you are now.' So that's what I did."
Some of the women who attended sessions – among them Mack’s co-star in Smallville, actress Kristin Kreuk – did indeed find the courses helpful.
"When I was about 23, I took an Executive Success Programs/NXIVM 'intensive,' what I understood to be a self-help/personal growth course that helped me handle my previous shyness, which is why I continued with the programme," Ms Kreuk wrote on social media, after Mr Raniere's arrest, and before Mack was indicted.
"I left about five years ago and had minimal contact with those who were still involved.”
She added that she never witnessed anything unusual.