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Smallville actress Kristin Kreuk denies she recruited women for 'sex slave' cult NXIVM

What is the truth?

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It’s hard to imagine the low-key WB/CW hit Smallville, which lasted a gobsmacking decade on the network from 2001 to 2011, resurfacing in the headlines for reasons other than a cynical revival dreamed up by money-grubbing television executives. But it’s even harder to imagine it having a connection to an Albany, N.Y.-based sex-cult currently facing allegations of human trafficking.

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Nonetheless, here we are.

Founded in 1998 by Keith Raniere, NXIVM was exposed in a New York Times profile last year for allegedly trafficking sex slaves. Then, last month, reports linking Canadian actress and former Smallville star Kristin Kreuk to NXIVM (pronounced “nexium”) began to circulate. 

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Raniere and other high-ranking members in the cult were accused of branding women, physically and sexually abusing them and enforcing strict diets to keep them “exceptionally thin” to his taste. According to the report, female members of the organization reported to “masters,” and were blackmailed into having sex with him and only him. They were taught to refer to Raniere as “The Vanguard.” Members were also required to submit “compromising” photos of themselves in order to join for extortion purposes, after which they were required to ask a male NXIVM leader, “Master, please brand me, it would be an honour.”

The cult had long established itself as a self-help organization, with supposed “courses” to increase confidence. On its website, NXIVM claims to be “a community guided by humanitarian principles that seek to empower people and answer important questions about what it means to be human.” Classes, all of which are unlisted, can reportedly range in price from $1,000 to $5,000, while members are also required to cough up at least $2,000 to celebrate Raniere’s birthday during what is termed “Vanguard Week,” according to a Rolling Stone report.

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Then, last week, Raniere was found hiding in Mexico, and arrested on sex-trafficking charges, bringing NXIVM back into the spotlight. As the most notable celebrity to have been involved with the cult, Kreuk’s name immediately resurfaced in rumours about NXIVM’s illegal activities, with a blog written that week by former member and organization publicist Frank Parlato alleging she had recruited fellow actresses and other women for the sole purposes of sexual slavery. 

Kreuk responded by releasing a statement on Twitter, saying accusations that she was involved with the more nefarious side of the cult are “blatantly false,” and that she merely participated as a student by taking an “Executive Success Programs/NXIVM ‘intensive.'” She said in her tweet that it was in hopes of coping with her shyness, adding she was never a part of the cult’s “inner circle,” and that she is “horrified and disgusted by what has come out about DOS.”

In her statement, Kreuk uses the term “DOS” several times, in reference to the cult’s “sorority.” The three letters stand for “Dominus Obsequious Sororium,” which tellingly translates to “the slave women under the master,” a dynamic Kreuk denies existed while she was a member. She claimed to have left the cult in 2013, before anything “illegal” ever happened, also saying she never recruited anyone and “had minimal contact with those who were still involved.”

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https://twitter.com/MsKristinKreuk/status/979486603184955393?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecut.com%2F2018%2F03%2Factress-denies-claims-she-was-a-recruiter-for-sex-cult.html

According to the New York Post, however, it was Kreuk who originally invited Smallville co-star Allison Mack to take classes in 2005. However, when Kreuk left the cult, Mack stayed, reportedly climbing to “second-in-command” of the organization and recruiting up to 25 women as sex slaves for Raniere. She, too, reportedly abused the recruits, who were branded not only with Raniere’s initials, but also Mack’s.

In his blog, Parlato described Mack as “brainwashed” and “maybe mentally ill.” He goes on to say, “She may be a victim. She may be a brutal creature. Either way, Raniere preyed on her and brought the worst out of her. Whether she remains loyal to him or turns and gives evidence against him remains to be seen. In any event, Allison Mack as she exists today is a human tragedy.”

Mack appears in numerous videos with Raniere, as part of his teachable “conversation” series, that remain online today.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=11&v=hBJQn6V7nSc

In a video of the moments following Raniere’s arrest, obtained by The Sun last week, Mack can be seen asking “what’s going on?” She’s joined by fellow cult member and former actress Nicki Clyne, who proclaims, “We’re going to follow them. … Let’s go, you guys!” The women proceeded to follow Raniere, who was reported to have been hiding out with “several women” in Mexico at the time of his arrest.

https://twitter.com/sarahjedmondson/status/979488130163269638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecut.com%2F2018%2F03%2Factress-denies-claims-she-was-a-recruiter-for-sex-cult.html

Fellow Canadian actress Sarah Edmondson, who was also involved with NXIVM for a time, tweeted in support of Kreuk’s claims, writing that the Smallville actress was “never in the inner circle” and “never recruited sex slaves,” confirming that Kreuk left before “s–t got weird.”

For his part, Raniere has denied all sex-trafficking allegations, calling them “most disturbing to me, as non-violence is one of my most important values.” NXIVM has also denied being a cult.

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