Allison Mack reveals moment she realised 'slave master' sex cult took 'dark turn' in new interview
Warning: This article contains discussion of sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
Former Smallville star Allison Mack has opened up about the moment she realised she was 'in too deep' in the NXIVM cult.
The 43-year-old was a prominent figure in the New York-based organisation led by Keith Raniere, which recruited people under the guise of offering self-help, as well as personal and professional development.
But the reality of NXIVM was a lot darker - as young women were horrifically 'branded' by the so-called 'slave masters' and forced to have sex with Raniere.
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Mack used her celebrity status to entice people to join the group and due to her vast involvement, she ended up serving time in prison.
The Wilfred actress was convicted of racketeering conspiracy in 2021 and spent two years behind bars, while cult leader Raniere was convicted on numerous charges, including sex trafficking.
The 65-year-old, who was referred to as 'Vanguard' by his followers in NXIVM, was ultimately sentenced to 120 years in prison.
Mack has been speaking out about her pivotal role in the cult in recent weeks, confessing that she used her fame as 'a power tool to get people to do what she wanted'.
And in a new interview, she has discussed how she was 'manipulated' into doing Raniere's bidding and how she has since struggled with the feeling that she is the 'worst human being on the planet'.
During an appearance on Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, Mack was quizzed about the moment she realised she was 'in too deep'.
"I was involved for 12 years," the Germany-born star said. "And stuff didn't start to get really dysfunctional and illegal until the eighth or ninth year that I was involved.
"So, it was like a very stereotypical - now that I look back on it - grooming process that happened over a period of time."
She compared her ascension into the cult to an 'abusive relationship' she had previously been in, saying: "It was a different form of an abusive relationship, where you make a decision to justify something that is a big deal at the time, but you're like, 'Oh, okay. I can figure out how to make this okay in my head'. And then, that becomes okay and normal.
"And so then the next thing that happens that's extreme, you justify and figure out how to make it okay and normal. Then all of a sudden, you're doing something totally different than what you ever expected yourself to do."
Mack said this change in her moral compass was 'subtle' and happened 'incrementally over time', before addressing the power Raniere held over her.
"I wouldn't pretend to psychoanalyse Keith Raniere, but he is really good at manipulating people, as evidenced by the people that he manipulated in the cult," she told the podcast.
She explained that most of the people who joined NXIVM were 'longing for something' and Raniere would give them 'just the right amount of help' to convince them that they needed him.
Mack continued: "It wasn't like it was all dark and all bad and all abusive right out the gate. It was it was great and then it was not great."
Mack said the NXIVM cult became an 'insidious little community', which made it even more difficult to snap out of Raniere's spell.
"Everybody stays connected to each other and everybody's reinforcing the belief system that everybody has," she said. "And then you get in so deep that you're like..."
Mack admitted that although she didn't join NXIVM because she was 'seeking power', she 'won't lie and say that power didn't feel good'.
"When you're on house arrest for three and a half years and then you're in prison for two years, you spend a lot of time thinking about what happened and how you got to where you are and what you did," Mack added.
"I yo-yoed back and forth between I'm the worst human being on the planet, I'm all these awful things - and then I would go back and I'd be like, 'Well, no, I had good intentions here and I wanted to do this here and I'll look at my journals and be like, I was thinking this here, so I don't think I'm horrible'.
"And it was this dance back and forth of accountability and justification and confusion until finally you settle into, okay, I'm a human being who has dark and light.
"I got caught up in a really messed up situation with really powerful people who had incredible ways of manipulating people over long periods of time."
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivors Trust for free on 08088 010 818, available 10am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-3pm and 6pm-8pm Monday to Thursday, 10am-12.30pm and 1.30pm-3pm on Fridays, 10am-12.30pm on Saturdays and 6pm-8pm on Sundays.
Topics: Celebrity, Crime, Podcast, True Crime, US News, Allison Mack
Olivia Burke