Allison Mack, Second-in-Command of a Sex Cult

[moviefan2k4]

Well, there's a lot they can accuse her of that has nothing to do with whether she came up with the branding or included her initials. Accounts by multiple former slaves indicate that she was part of enforcing the strict diets, of forcing the women through the branding ritual, and directly involved with providing Raniere with women to sleep with. Obviously, all of this is "innocent until proven guilty", but regardless of the specifics, all indications are that she is probably guilty of some things (as someone on this thread pointed out earlier, $5 million is a major bail amount and indicates the seriousness of the charges as well as the flight risk). But I hope the same for everyone - basically all the women involved have been subjected to mental and physical abuse of some sort, and whether they turned around and handed out the same treatment to others, or whether they were only recipients of abuse, they all need healing. Justice is going to be very hard for the courts to sort out when it comes to people like Allison, who are both victim and victimizer, and I'm glad I am not one of the ones who has to make that decision!

I actually don't think I'll have as much trouble keeping them separate - Allison-as-Chloe and Allison-as-she-is-now don't even look quite the same, and they certainly don't act anywhere near the same. And the years I watched the show (S1-S3, quit partway through S4 because I hated the direction it was going), she wasn't involved with NXIVM, so it's like it's a whole different person to me. A lot of the articles have quoted someone saying something similar - that Allison as who she was vs. who she is now are not the same person. But I am sorry for anyone who is going to have a hard time with that - to lose a favorite show like that because of the actions of one actress…

If it was a guest star, I would be more agreeable...but Allison was the lead actress on the show in terms of episode count. Across all 218 episodes, she missed a dozen or so...most of them in the final season. Of all the original characters created for the show, Chloe and Lionel were by far the most popular.

[Billy Jor-El]

Her career over? Sadly, I think most likely. Look at Winona Ryder. She was busted for shoplifting and carrying Rx drugs (which may or may not have been hers, I am hazy on that). Winona didn't work a lot after that, and seems to just getting back into favor in "Stranger Things." She's not the teen/20s girl she was; granted, still beautiful, now in her 40s, but probably some good opportunities missed because of her actions. And all she did was shoplift (as dumb as that was). Allison has become a darker figure, endangering others, not just herself. Let's see how it plays out, but I don't think we'll be seeing her name much in screen credits any longer, which is a shame for an otherwise talented person.

[Billy Jor-El]

And really??? I see a blurb on line that says Federal prosecutors obtained info that Allison married actress Nicki Clyne just prior to her arrest.

[Martin le Magicien]

And really??? I see a blurb on line that says Federal prosecutors obtained info that Allison married actress Nicki Clyne just prior to her arrest.

Yeah, the more you read, the more depraved Allison looks. I also read that she administered corporal punishments to some of the girls. I hope we have all the facts soon.

[TheSecretVampire]

Yeah, her career is over for sure. Even if she comes out of this will lesser charges, no one is going to hire her because of what she did and all of the bad press that comes with that.


It's sad in a way because she was part of a very success show in Smallville and really was a driving force in that show. And all of that goodwill is all gone because of the this sex cult, just too bad.

[costas22]

The thing is that currently we are in a society that doesn't forgive or forget easily. And over the past year we've seen the careers of actors, singers or whatnot come to a screeching halt due to allegations less severe than the ones Allison is facing. So I would be very surprised if she ever worked as an actress again. That's assuming she even wants to work as an actress anymore.

[Billy Jor-El]

Yeah, the more you read, the more depraved Allison looks. I also read that she administered corporal punishments to some of the girls. I hope we have all the facts soon.

Well, if she's truly in love with another woman, I don't consider that depraved. I would give anyone free choice in that arena. I just had no clue (though, why would I? She never calls me )

[Martin le Magicien]

Well, if she's truly in love with another woman, I don't consider that depraved. I would give anyone free choice in that arena. I just had no clue (though, why would I? She never calls me )

Sure, but I think it's more likely that she was in love with Keith and did what she had to do to keep one of his top slave in the country... and that's a bit twisted...

[Billy Jor-El]

Sure, but I think it's more likely that she was in love with Keith and did what she had to do to keep one of his top slave in the country... and that's a bit twisted...

Yes, unfortunately that may in fact be the case.

Courts move very slowly, but does anyone have any insight to her case's progress? If a plea deal, I would think it to avoid an court trial. She has disappointed her fans, and maybe in her own inner searching now realizes she just may have disappointed herself.

[Doranwen]

One would hope, but it doesn't appear likely: https://artvoice.com/2018/05/11/sour.../#.WvY9zSch104

I quote:
"Allison is said to be reluctantly receiving help –a noted cult de-programmer has been retained by her worried family to try to rescue her from the thralldom of the cult. The results have been nil, sources tell me.
Allison is utterly resistant to the suggestion she was brainwashed."

Another interesting article: https://artvoice.com/2018/05/11/sex-.../#.WvY91Sch104

Which is really sad - that would mean she could go to jail for some serious time, not just a few years, if she doesn't turn on Raniere. One wonders if she'll ever wake up and realize she was brainwashed.

This article suggests she might end up in jail the rest of her life, if she doesn't turn on Raniere and Clare Bronfman: https://artvoice.com/2018/05/12/if-a.../#.WvfC5Sch104
Let's hope this isn't what's actually going on: https://artvoice.com/2018/05/12/alli.../#.WvfC6Cch104
(But given that Parlato's been right on everything up to this point - his site had an article on the Mack/Clyne marriage weeks before the mainstream media came out with it - chances are very good that he's right here too.)

And this article suggests state charges in addition to the federal ones: https://artvoice.com/2018/05/14/feds.../#.Wvn5-ych104
It only gets worse. :/

As for the marriage, all articles I've seen report it as a move ordered by Raniere, and state there is no intimate relationship between the two. Raniere just didn't want to lose Clyne because she could only keep the work visa if she was actually acting, and getting involved with NXIVM majorly reduced the productivity of everyone's careers. (See Allison's, for an example.) She wasn't doing enough acting for the visa, so poof! instant marriage, and now she can stay and be a slave. (And spend her life following her wife's orders, since she's a direct slave of Allison's.)

Edit: Just saw this article today: http://www.vulture.com/2018/05/i-was...-sex-cult.html
It says what I was trying to say a few pages back, about how everyone's vulnerable: "No one is immune from being swindled." And Raniere knows how to brainwash people, to get them where they can't think as clearly and then change the way they think altogether. I found the final paragraph very interesting: "Cults aren’t exclusively made up of freaks or damaged, desperate people (though they may leave that way). They consist of relatively normal individuals — and it’s for this reason that they’re so frightening."

[harryandginnyfanatic]

The thing is that currently we are in a society that doesn't forgive or forget easily. And over the past year we've seen the careers of actors, singers or whatnot come to a screeching halt due to allegations less severe than the ones Allison is facing. So I would be very surprised if she ever worked as an actress again. That's assuming she even wants to work as an actress anymore.

That’s assuming they let her go free after the trial.

[Doranwen]

That’s assuming they let her go free after the trial.

Yeah, given the state charges possible in addition to the federal ones, who knows...

I did find this article very interesting, along with this quote: https://artvoice.com/2018/05/15/huma.../#.WvtBUCch104
"A ‘Bottom,’ or ‘Bottom Girl,’ is a favored female appointed by the trafficker/pimp to supervise the others and report rule violations. The Bottom recruits others and tries to help the “family” and the “organization” grow. The Bottom is the operational right hand of the trafficker, and she may train victims, collect money, or inflict punishments on other girls. If it turns out the Raniere is convicted of trafficking, Allison Mack’s role may well be defined as a Bottom Girl. Bottom girls generally start out as victims, and there is a complicated overlap between victimization and exploitation. Due to the victimization path to becoming a perpetrator, anti-trafficking activists tend to have more compassion for the bottom girl than the members of the general public."

It explained a lot about the sex trafficking charges that were somewhat confusing - I saw a lot of posts and comments going "sex trafficking, what?", wondering how what they did added up to that. This makes it a lot clearer, and gives the government a much stronger case than I had thought. Which is where I really really hope that she starts to wake up from the brainwashing at some point—it'll help her case a lot more.

Edit: The Hollywood Reporter came out with a really thorough piece that a lot of other sites are excerpting from, which shows a more detailed picture of how Allison got sucked in and transformed into who she is now. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/fe...slaver-1112107

A former roommate is quoted: ' "I don't think she was thinking she was actually trafficking girls," says the former roommate. "It doesn't mean she doesn't deserve punishment, but I think she had drunk enough Kool-Aid to really believe that these girls were going to save the world with [Raniere's] super-sperm." '

[skizzo]

Wow: http://people.com/crime/allison-mack..._medium=social

"Allison Mack embraced her role in the controversial group Nxivm and was allegedly “intimidating, cruel and punitive” to the women prosecutors say she exploited"

"These slaves said Mack was incredibly intimidating, cruel and punitive,” a source close to two former DOS members told The HollywoodReporter in a cover story published last Wednesday. The source added that according to the former members, Mack allegedly threatened to release compromising materials she had gathered on the women if they refused sex with Raniere."

“You made a lifetime vow!” the source alleged Mack screamed at the “slaves” at one point.
“She berated them and told them they were worth nothing, that they were weak and couldn’t uphold their word,” the source alleged. Mack also allegedly threatened to destroy those who refused her orders, or those who dated other men, according to the source.

Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that Mack committed herself fully to Nxivm, and her prominence within the organization rose as Mack and Raniere allegedly became romantically involved.
Mack allegedly had “slaves” beneath her, and either “directly or implicitly required” at least two women “to engage in sexual activity with Raniere” and that “in exchange, for this, Mack received financial and other benefits from Raniere,” prosecutors alleged in the statement.
A former DOS member is quoted in the piece, and she alleges that if Raniere had difficulty performing sexually — a regular occurrence, she says — “he blamed it on her weight.” Sources also alleged Raniere told the women in DOS “that they were all connected via his sperm.”
The Hollywood Reporter article alleges Mack cut off family and friends who used the word “cult” when referencing Nxivm. It also describes the alleged envy the group’s leaders had of Scientology, and how they believed enlisting celebrities would advance the organization’s efforts. Rick Ross, a cult expert, says in the piece that Mack “was the Tom Cruise of Nxivm.”

[Doranwen]

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. I particularly thought this quote from that article interesting: "Once exuberant and gentle, she allegedly started lashing out and chastising those around her." What misery.

The Hollywood Reporter article explicitly talks about the personality changes too:
' "Her personality [increasingly] turned inside out," the former employee says, adding that Mack began berating and humiliating her for small infractions. If Mack's critiques of others were scathing, her own self-esteem wasn't much better. She told her employee she would never choose to have kids of her own because she was "so f***** up." '

Just really, really sad.

[Vergon6]

This whole situation is messed up. I really hope there is justice for the victims of these heinous acts. It’s hard to tell whether Allison was brainwashed or if there is a darkness inside her that none of us on the outside looking in realized.