Shortly after former Smallville star Allison Mack‘s arrest and subsequent release on a $5-million bond, a 2013 YouTube clip has surfaced showing her raving about the alleged sex cult Nxivm (pronounced “Nexium”).
Mack was arrested last week — in connection with the so-called cult — for sex trafficking and forced labour conspiracy, and stands accused of trying to recruit women, including other celebrities, into Nxivm. She pleaded not guilty.
Prior to her arrest, the actor was last seen chasing after the police vehicle containing Nxivm leader Keith Raniere, who was arrested in Mexico at the end of March for sex trafficking and forced labour and was extradited to the U.S. to face trial. Mack is widely known as one of Raniere’s top confidantes.
Authorities have long alleged Raniere led the secretive clan of female followers and brainwashed them into being “sex slaves.” He then allegedly branded them with his initials in their pelvic regions and coerced them into having sex with him.
According to the filed complaint, Raniere (who was known in the group as “The Vanguard”) oversaw the functioning of Nxivm, which operated under an archaic system: women were told the best way to advance was to become a “slave” watched over by “masters.”
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They were expected to have sex with their “master” and do any and all menial chores they were ordered to. They weren’t to tell anybody about the arrangement, and they risked public humiliation if they ever revealed details to any party. Raniere denies any wrongdoing.
In the YouTube clip (which you can watch, top), titled Allison Mack Q & A — You Asked, I Answered, the 35-year-old Mack gushes about Jness, a smaller group within Nxivm that she described as a “women’s empowerment group.”
“It’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever done because it consists of working with a group of people who are totally interdependent,” Mack said in the video. “We’re all working together and no one is ever punished or told that they’re wrong or bad.”
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Mack goes on to describe her role within Jness, and she outright admits that she worked to help bring people together to have “a good experience somewhere, doing something.”
“We use these tools and these structures in order to organize situations and circumstances for women to come together and create incredible relationships,” she continued.
People magazine also unearthed some of Mack’s tweets from 2015. In them, it appears that she was trying to recruit Harry Potter actor Emma Watson to join up with Nxivm.
At one point, Mack also tried to reach out to singer Kelly Clarkson.
There is a wealth of replies to Mack’s request to Watson, and in them, there are warnings to the Beauty and the Beast star about Mack’s alleged involvement with Nxivm.
In addition to the video and tweets, some emails sent by Mack in 2013 and 2014 asking to “chat” have also popped up. The female recipients express relief that they never replied to her. One such woman is lawyer and author Jill Filipovic, who said she “dodged a bullet.”
Katie Baker, a BuzzFeed reporter, also received an email from Mack in 2014. She was trying to get her on board with an “awesome educational model” about “empathy, ethics and compassion.”
Among the many women who’ve come forward with emails, not many replied to Mack. Noor Tagouri, a reporter and activist, connected with Mack on Twitter when she became excited at the prospect of joining a female “empowerment” organization in New York.
Things took a turn after Tagouri realized Raniere — a man — was the head of this supposed women’s organization, and after speaking with her mother she decided to cancel her travel to New York.
On NBC News’ Megyn Kelly Today Thursday, actor Samia Shoaib claims Mack “love bombed” her (a noted persuasion technique) and tried to recruit her into Nxivm.
Other rumoured celebrity members include former Battlestar Galactica star Nicki Clyne and Canadian actor Kristen Kreuk. Clyne has not commented publicly on her involvement, while Kreuk did confirm her affiliation with Nxivm in the past, though she emphasized that she had “minimal contact” with the group after she left it five years ago.
Mack is due back in court on May 3.
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