I was scared to death but it didn't matter if I was scared, Catherine told the magazine. We were coerced.. It would be an honor or something like that an honor I want to wear for the rest of my life.. Absolutely. Four years later, in 2015, the Justice Department indicted him on charges of fraud and other crimes arising from alleged activities, including defrauding the Bronfmans. At the federal court in Brooklyn, the prosecution played a recording of a conversation between former Smallville actress Allison Mack and Raniere. I didnt understand that it was dozens, 20, 30 Vicente says. Almost like a sacrifice? he seems to ask while trying to explain his idea. He is now on trial on charges of racketeering. Sarah Edmondson, one of the participants, said she had been told she would get a small tattoo as part of the initiation. Victim Sarash Edmondson revealed the brand she received as part of the initiation ceremony for the sex cult NXIVM Credit: New York Times. Soon, Mr. Vicente was taking courses that he said helped him expose his fears and learn strategies that made him feel more resolute. I respected him. masters show his role as an architect of the group, speaking about how it should be structured, and acknowledging that the brand itself was tied to him. Ms. Oxenberg had become increasingly concerned about her 26-year-old daughter, India, who looked emaciated from dieting. The Nxivm founders disturbing fantasies were captured on an audio recording by Smallville actress and DOS slave Allison Mack, while the two took an early morning walk together on January 9, 2017. 2023 Met Gala Carpet Is Approved by Your Dentist. Mack is inmate number 90838-053, with her release date noted as March 29, 2024. Or three seconds. Several former members have asked state authorities to investigate the groups practices, but officials have declined to pursue action. 2023 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. A copy of a text message Mr. Raniere sent to a female follower indicates that he knew women were being branded and that the symbols design incorporated his initials. I wept the whole time, Ms. Edmondson recalled. Has she ever proven that it's not there? Some people were willing to take responsibility for that while others claimed to be victims of their choices.. Unbridled Evil: The Corrupt Reign of Jiang Zemin in China. Former members have depicted him as a man who manipulated his adherents, had sex with them and urged women to follow near-starvation diets to achieve the type of physique he found appealing. In 2011, the Bronfman sisters sued Mr. Parlato, whom they had hired as a consultant, alleging he had defrauded them of $1 million. Not initially intended as my initials but they rearranged it slightly for tribute, Mr. Raniere wrote, (if it were abraham lincolns or bill gates initials no one would care.). He is now on trial on charges of racketeering conspiracy, identity theft, extortion, forced labor, money laundering, wire fraud and sex trafficking. I had two women holding my hands and my feet so I wouldn't convulse, India told the magazine. Edmondson arrived at the house thinking she was getting a tattoo to mark her entry into what she was told was a secret sisterhood, but was instead held down on a table and branded with a cauterizing pen. There was ambient light. The women were then driven to a nearby house, where the branding took place. Never-before-seen footage will show what life was like inside the notorious sex cult NXIVM - including scenes where the Dalai Lama blesses its members after being paid $1 million, and actress. For more information, please see our NXIVM Dos branding video (leaked cult video Mexican news)? I tried to pack all the keywords in the title; basically, if you've seen or read anything about the recently-exposed cult NXIVM ("subsect Dos"), you might've heard about the video of the branding that was leaked by the Mexican news and shown. \"The whole point was to experience pain and to overcome the pain, to be really strong, so they cut our flesh open without anesthetic.\" #InsideEdition Around the same time, an actress, Catherine Oxenberg, said she learned her daughter had been initiated into the sorority. India and Catherine Oxenberg discuss the Nxivm and share the details of India's branding ceremony. Do you think, Im bad, I dont agree with abuses, she recalled him saying. Sarah Edmondsons painful initiation into the DOS sex cult, a sect within the larger Nxivm organization, occurred at the Albany home owned by Allison Mack, says the Canadian actress. It also included a tribute to Keith for the use of his practices, and symbols relating to spiritual ascension and self-mastery, she said. 44. A former NXIVM cult member is speaking candidly about her ordeal. The Nxivm founder's disturbing fantasies were captured on an audio recording by "Smallville" actress and DOS slave Allison Mack, while the two took an early morning walk together on January 9,. The branding video depicted Sarah naked and being branded and stating, as she . By 2018, her old co-worker Porter would find himself under investigation by New York states medical oversight board, charged with conducting fright studies for Raniere and NXIVM. The question is: will we put forth what is necessary?. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Several women described him as warm, funny and eager to talk about subjects that interested them. By 2016 she and Raniere developed a workshop series that claimed to relieve physical ailments, such as chronic back pain, by re-patterning clients bodies through different postures, exercises and manual adjustments., She describes her relationship with Raniere as platonic, but did say: He kissed me romantically once. Absolutely.. As she traced the image with the cauterizing tool, for every line [branded], there was an intentional reading. Mark Vicente and his wife, Bonnie Piesse, both former members of Nxivm. Roberts lost her license earlier this year; she is appealing the decision. This man needs to be stopped.. Ms. Mehdaoui, 25, was a newcomer to Nxivm, but the two had grown close. All Rights Reserved. In her book Scarred, former NXIVM member Sarah Edmondson refers to the video-recorded ceremonies as a sadistic type of conditioning., But Roberts disagreed. Smallville actress Allison Mack gave the Brooklyn U.S. attorneys office substantial assistance in its case against NXIVM sex-cult leader Keith Raniere, including an incriminating recording, federal prosecutors said, in arguing that she should receive a lesser sentence. There are things I didnt know that I didnt sign up for, and Im not even hearing about it from you, she texted Mr. Raniere. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. My view of Raniere was influenced primarily by a piece of video that doesn't appear on The Vow.I'm referring to ex-NXIVM member Sarah Edmondson's "branding ceremony," as the process of . NEW YORKThe founder and leader behind the now-defunct organization NXIVM was also behind a branding ceremony that membersof aninternal secret society were forced to participate in, an audio recording played during the ongoing trial on May 22 revealed. Saying no meant hurting my family or hurting my friends. Jay began taking Nxivm classes in or about 2016, during which time she became friendly with India Oxenberg, one of Mack's DOS "slaves." . I would describe that sexual relationship as rape.. Once I left, I heard about Keith using sex as a means to control people, she tells host Elizabeth Vargas in the above exclusive clip from the Nxivm-focused series premiere, which will air May 28 and 29 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. Do you think the person who is being branded should be completely nude and sort of held to the table like a sort of, almost, like a sacrifice? Mr. Raniere asked the actress Allison Mack in one recording. I said, Whatever you are doing, you are heading for a blowup, Mr. Vicente said. The cult had nearly 20,000 members by the time it was exposed as a twisted, dangerous pyramid scheme in a 2017 New York Times . The monogram as it is right now is very directly related to my initials, Mr. Raniere said in a meeting recorded in 2016. Because the truth is, I didn't see a future for myself when I was there. For hours, muffled screams and the smell of burning tissue filled the room. We were starved. Edmondson, who was a member of the group from 2005 until 2017, filed a New York State Department of Health complaint against Roberts for practicing medicine negligently. On the recording, Mr. Ames tells another member that Ms. Edmondson was branded and that other women told him about handing over collateral. 2 in DOS. Tolerance for pain impacted the time I would spend [with the cauterizing stylus on her skin], Roberts explained. In this courtroom artist's sketch, Keith Raniere, second from right, leader of the secretive group NXIVM, attends his trial in Brooklyn federal court on May 7, 2019, in New York. Tears came down her eyes. These are the hardest years of my life, Roberts said. Mr. Raniere claimed he was not associated with the Nxivm sub-group that branded women. What I was learning was the opposite. 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Her husband, Anthony Ames, who was also a Nxivm member, learned about her branding and the couple both wanted out. She said it had been formed as a force for good, one that could grow into a network that could influence events like elections. Mr. Raniere and other top Nxivm officials, including Lauren Salzman, did not respond to repeated emails, letters or text messages seeking comment. There has been testimony that Mr. Raniere had sex with an underage girl and that people within Nxivm saw him as all-knowing and practically infallible. What If a Whole Stand-up Special Were About Peanut Butter? Before quitting, Mr. Ames went to Nxivms offices in Albany to collect money he said the group owed him. A Nxivm follower, Soukaina Mehdaoui, said she reached out to Mr. Raniere after reading the post. DOS was creating teachings to help us develop love and devotion. His lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said in an email on Sunday that Mr. Raniere played a role in the creation of the subset but was not a member. Cookie Notice At the time I was interested in what could measurably help people to be more joyful, Roberts said. She currently resides in Wisconsin, living rent-free in a sympathetic friends home. Ms. Salzman, who was a first line master in D.O.S., testified that Mr. Raniere came up with a plan to say that the brand was not meant to include his initials but represented the seven chakras, the four elements, or Bar Alpha Mu a combination, apparently, of a mathematical symbol and two Greek letters. Raniere co-founded NXIVM, a so-called self-improvement group, in 1998. She overcame her challenges and worked her way through New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, finishing her residency in 2011 and partnering in an alternative-medical practice in Long Island. Marrying the Ghost of Karl Lagerfeld at the 2023 Met Gala. If youre attracted to someone on the yacht, the worst thing you can do is tell Gary. But I am proud of who I am and who I am becoming by staying true to myself despite tremendous forces to turn against my friends or claim to be victims.. He went on to outline his vision for how womens bodies would be arranged before being branded: legs spread straight, like feet being held to the side of the table, hands probably above the head, being held almost like tied down.. After undressing, she was led to a candlelit ceremony, where she removed a blindfold and saw Ms. Salzmans other slaves for the first time. Sarah Edmonson, shown here displaying the Nxivm branding, left the group in June 2017. symbol that included Mr. Ranieres initials, Mr. Raniere had sex with an underage girl. Although he presented himself as a guru-like humanitarian, prosecutors and former Nxivm members have described Mr. Raniere as a mountebank who exploited his followers. Mr. Ranieres trial in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, which is set to enter its fourth week on Tuesday, has had no shortage of surprising, even shocking, moments. It faced . It was a very meaningful initiation ceremony.. He was convicted of racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, wire-fraud conspiracy, forced-labor conspiracy, sex-trafficking conspiracy, and two counts of sex trafficking on June 19, 2019, after a six-week trial. Even if they cried when they were getting the brand, even if they wore surgical masks to help them with breathing in the smell of burning flesh they were still able to transcend the fear and cry out to one another Lets get strong together,' Mack told the newspaper. See more posts like this in r/NXIVM. Anyone can read what you share. This story has been shared 188,869 times. I thought it was beautiful., So much so that when Roberts got tapped by Mack to be the groups brander in 2017, she accepted. We've received your submission. Soon after word emerged that the authorities were investigating the group. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us. She did not consider the third possibility: that nothing wrong was done and that we were consenting adults participating with full agency. It probably should be a more vulnerable position, he muses. You just dont realize what is happening.. India spent nearly seven years and $100,000 in the organization. And it was a ploy for Keith to enslave women for his own sexual desires.. The blackmail scheme worked on India. He styled himself as the grandmaster of a secret society within NXIVM called DOS, while its members, all women, were his sexual slaves. The pyramid schemes the organization utilized were also Ranieres creation. I dont know if that, thats a feeling of submission, you know, Raniere said in that recording. (Elizabeth Williams via AP). NXIVM suspended operations on June 12, 2018. Mack was a high-ranking member and part of NXIVMs inner circle. A former NXIVM cult member is speaking candidly about her ordeal. Bowen Xiao was a New York-based reporter at The Epoch Times. No sentencing date has been set and its unclear if India will participate in that one, too. In March, Ms. Edmondson arrived for an initiation ceremony at Ms. Salzmans home in Clifton Park, N.Y., a town about 20 miles north of Albany where Mr. Raniere and some followers live. It was about trust. During her visit, Ms. Salzman said she had something really amazing she wanted to share. And I wasnt gonna do that.. If thats what he wants to do, that should be on their fucking website., Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day. The fact that Moira Penza [the lead government attorney in the Raniere trial] did not consider me as a subject of the investigation is somewhat of an insult to me, said Roberts. Mark Vicente, a filmmaker and former top Nxivm official, said that after hearing about the secret society, he confronted Mr. Raniere. She added The Post that Edmondson and some 80 NXIVM participants are launching a civil lawsuit against her and others in the organization. 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But the branding of women who joined a clandestine sorority within Nxivm, called The Vow or D.O.S., is at the heart of the Nxivm case, providing the most visible and graphic example of Mr. Ranieres control. refers to the video-recorded ceremonies as "a sadistic type . I lied to the media about it.. Melanie Lynskey, Seth Meyers, and More Support WGA Amid Negotiations. As the recordings were played to the jury, witness Lauren Salzmana former member of NXIVM who was part of the DOS inner circleanswered questions from the prosecution concerning certain quotes. In September, regulators told Ms. Kobelt they concluded that the allegations against Dr. Porter did not meet the agencys definition of medical misconduct, their letter shows. On October 27, Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in federal prison. 41. Nxivm recently filed criminal complaints with the Vancouver police against Ms. Edmondson and two other women accusing them of mischief and other crimes in connection with the firms now-closed center there, according to Ms. Edmondson. (Roberts said that branding was not associated with her medical work and Edmondson was not a patient.). Im very sorry for who Ive hurt through my misguided adherence to Keith Ranieres teachings.. They destroyed my career and my reputation. It is not clear how many women were branded or which Nxivm officials were aware of the practice. You wouldnt want to be kicking or jumping, so as not to mess up the brand., She added: The women getting the brand wanted to be secured., In her book, Edmondson describes the branding as permanent trauma to my consciousness. But Roberts claims that Edmondson has run a fear campaign and convinced [former members] that they were abused., The ceremonies took place in the Clifton Park, NY, townhouse of Mack, in a room that was [formerly] an office or bedroom, Roberts said. Watch First prominent NXIVM member sentenced to nearly 7 years in prison: Watch: What Clare Bronfmans prison sentence in NXIVM cult case, Kanye West urges voters to write in his name for president in first 2020 ad, The Wanted's Tom Parker diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at age 32, Kristin Cavallari kisses comedian Jeff Dye amid divorce from Jay Cutler, 'American Idol' royal shakeup: Katy Perry, Lionel Richie to be (temporarily) dethroned by '90s queen, pop prince, Aaron Carter's ex-fiance says his 'downfall' was losing custody of son Prince: doc, Before 'Guardians,' Chris Pratt says he was crushed by rejections for 'Captain America' and 'Thor.' The 29-year-old daughter of Dynasty star Catherine Oxenberg was chosen to join NXIVM's master-slave sorority, DOS. Please go to r/theNXIVMcase (it's linked here) and join! Inside a Secretive Group Where Women Are Branded, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/nyregion/nxivm-women-branded-albany.html. Freevees new series will determine whos the greatest reality-TV contestant across. This sorority is autonomous, separate and distinct from Nxivm, Keith Raniere and associates, the statement said, adding that he had little knowledge or authority in the issue., In a separate letter to Nxivm members, Mr. Raniere wrote, I feel it is important to clarify the sorority is not part of NXIVM and that I am not associated with the group.. The brand was a symbol incorporating Ranieres initials that was burned onto the skin of DOS members with a cauterizing pen, during a process that took 20 to 30 minutes,according to court documents. In her book, Edmondson describes the branding pain as causing her to disassociate myself out of my body. But Roberts claims to possess proof of something else: I have the video of Sarah [being branded] She was so moved at the end that she kissed her teacher Lauren [Salzman, who avoided jail time by testifying against Raniere]. Porter had moved from Iowa to Albany so he could work on measuring the emotional and physical effects of Mr. Ranieres programs., Introduced to the group by her co-worker, Roberts joined up with NXIVM, moving to Albany in late 2014 and taking classes. Pretty sure one of the branding videos (I think Sarah's) was realized by the news in Mexico, I think that was in the escaping nxivm podcast, not fully sure though suchfun01 2 yr. ago But the people who leaked it to the Mexican news were almost certainly NXIVM members. Keith Raniere, 58, co-founded Nxivm (pronounced nex-ee-um) in the 1990s as a self-help organization based in a suburban town in upstate New York. What I thought I was learning was self-help and personal growth. In May, Sarah Edmondson began to recoil from her embrace of the secret society. This includes personalizing content and advertising. Although my body may be burned or tortured or whatever, my love is strong, Raniere told Mack. Evidence of the process within the NXIVN cult first emerged in The New York Times thanks to escaped follower Sarah Edmondson, who herself was branded. Do you think the person whos being branded should be held to the table, almost like a sacrifice? Raniere asks Mack, adding that he thinks the slaves should be completely nude. You have the person teaching them having sex with them as part of their growth? she says. After Ms. Edmondson wrote a letter detailing past indiscretions, Ms. Salzman told her about the secret sorority.
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