Allison Mack breaks silence on involvement with NXIVM sex cult: “I was aggressive and I was abusive”
Former Smallville actor Allison Mack has opened up for the first time about her time in the notorious NXIVM cult.
Mack, who was released from prison in 2023 for her role in NXIVM, has detailed her story in the new seven-part podcast series, Allison After NXVIM, via CBS.
Across the episodes, Mack reveals how she initially stumbled upon the group, led by Keith Raniere, as a young actor and at first, thought it was about self-improvement and multi-level marketing. She also discusses her involvement in recruiting women to become sex slaves.
Mack accepted a plea deal in 2019 before being sentenced in 2021 on racketeering and conspiracy charges and also agreed to testify at Raniere’s trial. He was sentenced to a 120-year prison sentence on a string of charges, including sex trafficking, racketeering, and wire fraud conspiracy.
The actor was allegedly one of the “masters” in NXIVM, which saw her recruit women for a “women’s empowerment group” who were secretly referred to as “slaves”. They were instructed to have sex with Raniere, as well as coerced into sending explicit material.
In the new podcast series, she said, “I don’t see myself as innocent” and admitted to using her celebrity as a recruiting advantage, describing it as “a power tool that I had to get people to do what I wanted”. She also remarked, “I think that I was very effective in moving Keith’s vision forward.”
Mack also labelled herself a “harsh monster”, stating, “I was not kind and I was aggressive and I was abusive.”
The former Smallville actor continued, “I was harsh and I was callous and I was aggressive and forceful in ways that were painful for people. (I) did make people feel like they had no choice and was incredibly abusive to people, traumatic for people.”
While Mack admitted that “100 per cent all those allegations are true” about her behaviour in NXIVM, she also stressed she is “someone who cares deeply and wanted very much to grow and wanted very much for everybody that I was involved with to grow.” Mack added, “Both of those things are true about me.”
On the abusive use of power, she shared, “I definitely recognise and admit that I was abusing my power”. However, on the flip side, Mack then added, “But I also can’t negate the fact that there was a part of me that was altruistic and was desperate to help people.”
Since leaving prison in 2023, Mack has began to pursue a master’s in social work, and also teaches arts programmes behind bars.
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