Last month, The New York Times broke a story about a secret cult, which their source claims puts its female members on starvation diets and beats them if they don't recruit enough "slaves".
Five women initially came forward to the paper, all belonging to a self-help organization called Nxivm, based in Albany but with chapters across the US, Mexico and Canada. Founder Keith Raniere supposedly inducts Nxivm's highest-ranking members into DOS, which stands for "dominus obsequious sororium", Latin for "master over the slave women".
The mother of one young woman still trapped in the
cult, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the female members were "used" by Raniere to lure other women into the group. To enter into the organization they have to hand in "collateral" to prove their loyalty, usually either pornographic material or "secret confessions" about their personal lives, which are then used to blackmail members into staying.
Last week, a former spokesman for the group, Frank Parlato, told The Sun that an "Emmy Award- winning actress" is a "key recruiter" for them. They didn't name her, but the Daily Mail later revealed this was Allison Mack, who is known for playing Chloe Sullivan on Smallville.
Now it has been rumoured that Battlestar Galactica actress Nicki Clyne belongs to the cult. The Sun have claimed that Clyne handed other the aforementioned "collateral" material to prove her loyalty. Ex-members have revealed that only the most loyal members are offered the ability to try and be a part of DOS, which apparently operates on a master-slave hierarchy, with Raniere at the top with Mack as his immediate subordinate.
Much of this information comes from Parlato and his blog, The Frank Report, which is dedicated to uncovering the truth behind DOS. Parlato claims he was fired after a year with the company, when Raniere caught him investigating the company's financial records. Since then he has been in a legal battle with Raniere and two other members of the group who claim he defrauded them.
While Nxivm stated that the New York Times story was merely a "criminal product of criminal minds", Parlato has other ideas:
"Keith Raniere is the one behind DOS and he recruits these actresses for two reasons."
"One he likes to be surrounded by young attractive women - but number two he also uses their celebrity and star power to recruit other young women."
“When potential members see all the bad publicity about this group - he says to them ‘It’s all lies, why would these successful actresses be a member if it was true?’
The Frank Report claimed that DOS was created with the intention that it would become a "force for good and a female force against evil", but has become something else entirely. Women are allegedly kept on a 500-800 calorie a day diet, because Raniere likes thin women and believe fat "interferes" with his energy levels. While Raniere is at the top of the pyramid, Mack supposedly has several slaves of her own, who are then ordered to recruit other slaves.
Most disturbingly, rumours claim that when women are deemed worthy to enter the group, they are ordered to strip at an initiation ceremony, then branded with a symbol below their hip.
“I wept the whole time,” one ex-member recalled. “I disassociated out of my body.” Parlato pointed out how on his blog that this symbol includes both Raniere and Mack's initials.
Mark Vicente, a filmmaker and former top official in the company, said that after he heard rumours of the secret society, he confronted Raniere but only received evasive answers. Raniere acknowledged that he gave "five women permission to do something," but refused to go any further. It was at this point that he realised that he had been manipulated and lied to.
“No one goes in looking to have their personality stripped away,” he said. “You just don’t realize what is happening.”
"The allegations relayed in the story are built upon sources, some of which are under criminal investigation or already indicted, who act as a coordinated group," Nxivm said in a previous statement. "We will explore any and all legal remedies to correct these lies."
“Humans can be noble,” Raniere says on his website. “The question is: will we put forth what is necessary?”
On her personal website, Mack says that Raniere "mentored [her] in her study of acting and music [...] As such, she has developed a deep connection to the nature of humanity as it relates to acting as an art form, and a tool for personal evolution".
Now it seems that as the stories of the hidden sisterhood and the branding circulates, many members are leaving Nxivm. Several former members of the organization have reportedly asked authorities to investigate the company, but officials have declined to pursue action.
Neither Nicki Clyne, Allison Mack, nor Raniere have made any public statements on the matter, or responded to calls for comments from various outlets.
