Allison Mack’s New Podcast Sheds Light On Kristin Kreuk’s Connection To Sex Cult NXIVM
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In the 2000s, Smallville made Allison Mack and Kristin Kreuk two of the most recognisable faces on television. Kreuk played Lana Lang, Clark Kent’s long-time love interest, while Mack played his tomboy best friend. Off screen, the rising actresses formed a close friendship — and now Mack’s new seven part podcast, Allison After NXIVM, has resurfaced the disturbing story of how that friendship intersected with self-help group–turned–sex cult NXIVM.
In the 2000s, Smallville made Allison Mack and Kristin Kreuk two of the most recognisable faces on television. Kreuk played Lana Lang, Clark Kent’s long-time love interest, while Mack played his tomboy best friend. Off screen, the rising actresses formed a close friendship — and now Mack’s new seven part podcast, Allison After NXIVM, has resurfaced the disturbing story of how that friendship intersected with self-help group–turned–sex cult NXIVM.
NXIVM was one of the most shocking cults of the 2000s, quickly becoming known as a BDSM “sex cult.” What began as a life-coaching course popular with young women evolved into a secretive hierarchy with Keith Raniere — known as “Vanguard” — at its centre, and a coterie of female “slave masters” beneath him. The case became one of the most high-profile of the century partly because of its membership, which included celebrities, heiresses and, most notoriously, Allison Mack. In 2018, Mack, once remembered as the “girl next door” from Smallville, burst back into public consciousness, accused and eventually found guilty of being one of Raniere’s top lieutenants who recruited and branded women.
Mack, once remembered as the “girl next door” from Smallville, burst back into public consciousness in 2018, accused and later found guilty of being one of Raniere’s top lieutenants. In court, she made a sobbing statement, reported by New York Times, admitting she had coerced women into the group where they were forced to have sex with Raniere, followed starvation diets of 500 calories a day and were branded with his initials (Mack took responsibility for this concept in a 2018 interview with NYT).
She ultimately received a reduced sentence of three years and served 21 months.
In the new podcast, 43-year-old Mack tells journalist Natalie Robehmed that it was Kristin Kreuk who first introduced her to NXIVM in the mid-2000s. “We both were at the point where we were 25. We were in New York City together. It was our break. And we had rented an apartment in the same building in the West Village. And we both were like, why do we both feel so unsatisfied?” Mack recalls on the podcast. She says Kreuk told her about an “amazing” self-help course she’d attended. “It’s the science of joy. It’s the most amazing thing. It’s made everything so much better in life. You’ve got to do this,” Mack recalls Kreuk saying after one of her first NXIVM courses.
“She was just like super excited about it, you know. She had a coach, and she was talking about a Vanguard and a Prefect, which were the names you called Keith and Nancy at the time,” Mack adds, referring to NXIVM leader Keith Raniere and co-founder Nancy Salzman. At Kreuk’s apparent urging, Mack says she took an initial NXIVM course in Vancouver led by Salzman. “We were learning about what’s the purpose of mankind, and we were learning about how does that relate to gender differences and relationships,” Mack explains of the early curriculum. In 2018, when Mack was charged, Kreuk addressed the storm of speculation around her own potential involvement. She said in a statement to ELLE, which she also posted on X (then Twitter), that she became involved with NXIVM when she was 23 years old — at a time when it was still publicly framed as a self-help group, however retrograde its teachings. Her complete statement read:
“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 program. I left about five years ago and had minimal contact with those who were still involved. The accusations that I was in the “inner circle” or recruited women as “sex slaves” are blatantly false. During my time, I never experienced any illegal or nefarious activity. I am horrified and disgusted by what has come out about DOS. Thank you to all of the brave women who have come forward to share their stories and expose DOS; I can’t imagine how difficult this has been for you. I am deeply disturbed and embarrassed to have been associated with NXIVM. I hope that the investigation leads to justice for all of those affected.”
Read more https://www.elle.com.au/culture/kristin-kreuk-allison-mack-nxivm/
Content retrieved from: https://www.elle.com.au/culture/kristin-kreuk-allison-mack-nxivm/.
