lol well he was arrested so I'm sure they have a case built against him for SOMETHING.
Weren't Mack's initials part of the brand too?
Yes, it's Keith Raniere's initials sideways with Mack's initials under the top line.
lol well he was arrested so I'm sure they have a case built against him for SOMETHING.
Weren't Mack's initials part of the brand too?
Source? I went to a camp with a kid whose family owned Seagrams.Some trust fund babies whose family owned Seagram's were in on this, too.
The Founder of "Nxivm," a Purported Self-Help Organization Based in Albany, N.Y., Arrested for Sex Trafficking and Forced Labor Conspiracy
Defendant Founded a Secret Society in Which Women Were Branded with Defendant's Initials, Served as His Slaves and Coerced Others into Performing Sex Acts
A complaint was unsealed today in federal court in Brooklyn charging Keith Raniere, also known as "The Vanguard," with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy. Raniere was deported by Mexican authorities after he was found Sunday outside Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in a luxury villa. Raniere's initial appearance is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon at the federal courthouse in Fort Worth, Texas.
Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and William F. Sweeney, Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the charges.
"As alleged in the complaint, Keith Raniere created a secret society of women whom he had sex with and branded with his initials, coercing them with the threat of releasing their highly personal information and taking their assets," stated United States Attorney Donoghue. "This Office and our law enforcement partners are committed to the prosecution of those who break the law by preying upon and violating members of our community." Mr. Donoghue expressed his grateful appreciation to the FBI for leading the investigation, and thanked the New York State Police, the FBI Albany Field Office, the FBI's Mexican Legat, the Mexican Federal Police, the New York State Office of the Attorney General, the New York State Department of Health and the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York for their assistance.
"As alleged, Keith Raniere displayed a disgusting abuse of power in his efforts to denigrate and manipulate women he considered his sex slaves," FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney stated. "He allegedly participated in horrifying acts of branding and burning them, with the cooperation of other women operating within this unorthodox pyramid scheme. These serious crimes against humanity are not only shocking, but disconcerting to say the least, and we are putting an end to this torture today."
Defendant's Founding of Nxivm
According to the complaint, during the past 20 years, Raniere established a series of purported self-help workshops called "Executive Success Programs" ("ESP") within his umbrella organization "Nxivm" (pronounced NEX-i-um). Nxivm is based in Albany, New York and has operated centers in the United States, Mexico, Canada and South America. Nxivm maintains features of a pyramid scheme, as its courses cost thousands of dollars each and participants ("Nxians") are encouraged to pay for additional classes, and to recruit others to take classes, in order to rise within the ranks of Nxivm. A number of Nxians were residents of the Eastern District of New York when they were recruited, and Nxivm has held promotional recruiting events in Brooklyn. Since Nxivm's creation, Raniere has maintained poly-amorous relations with its members.
According to the complaint, in 2015, Raniere created a secret society within Nxivm called "DOS," which loosely translated to "Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions," or "The Vow." DOS operated with levels of women "slaves" headed by "masters." Slaves were expected to recruit slaves of their own (thus becoming masters themselves), who in turn owed service not only to their own masters but also to masters above them in the DOS pyramid. Raniere stood alone at the top of the pyramid. Other than the Raniere, all members of DOS were women.
Most DOS slaves were recruited from within Nxivm's ranks. When new DOS slaves were recruited, they were explicitly told that the organization was women-only, and that the organization would empower them and eradicate weaknesses that the Nxivm curriculum taught were common in women. Raniere's status at the top of the structure was concealed from new recruits.
As a pre-condition to joining DOS, women were required to provide "collateral," which included highly damaging information about friends and family members, nude photographs and/or rights to the recruit's assets. DOS slaves feared that their collateral could be released for any number of reasons, including telling anyone about DOS's existence or leaving DOS. Many DOS slaves were branded on their pelvic areas using a cauterizing pen with a symbol which, unbeknownst to them, incorporated Raniere's initials. During the branding ceremonies, slaves were required to be fully naked, and a master would order one slave to film the branding while the others restrained the slave being branded.
As detailed in the complaint, some DOS masters gave their slaves, including Jane Does 1 and 2 as described in the complaint, work which directly or implicitly required the slaves to have sex with Raniere. These DOS masters received financial benefits from Raniere. According to the complaint, both Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 2 believed that if they did not have sex with the defendant, their collateral could be released.
The charges in the complaint are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
If convicted of the crimes charged, Raniere faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years' imprisonment, and up to life imprisonment.
The government's case is being handled by the Office's Organized Crime and Gangs Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Moira Kim Penza and Tanya Hajjar are in charge of the prosecution.
The Defendant:
KEITH RANIERE (also known as "The Vanguard")
Age: 57
Residence: Waterford, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 18-MJ-132
I saw the previous topic but I don't remember if I posted about it. I remember hearing about her supposedly being in some cult back when Smallville was still on and that she was trying to get Kristen Kreuk into it too or something. Shit's fucked up.
Can someone make a mod of this for Far Cry 5? I think i want to shoot Chloe and Lana in a face.
Eh, it's been almost a decade since I think I first heard about it, either way...It was the other way around tho. Kristin was there first, introduced Allison to them and then reportedly left. This was supposedly prior to this becoming a sex slaving ring.
Could've swore there was a 20/20 episode on this a couple of months ago
Tell us more... what about the other cast? Not to change subject too much, it is a shame this is all going on but I grew up with SmallvilleI worked with her briefly on Smallville and she was the nicest person on set :(
Some trust fund babies whose family owned Seagram's were in on this, too.
Source? I went to a camp with a kid whose family owned Seagrams.
This spring, Clare Bronfman, the 31-year-old heiress to the multi-billion-dollar Seagram liquor fortune, would describe to a New York court the extortion letter that was sent to her on April 24, 2009. Intended for her 33-year-old sister, Sara, as well, it was signed by several women, including the sisters' financial planner, a masseuse, and a hairstylist, and demanded that "they be paid $2.1 million by midnight," Clare said in a sworn declaration, "or else they would go to the press with information they deemed harmful to my sister and I." What that information was, the letter didn't say, but Clare viewed the threat as alarming. The daughters of the billionaire philanthropist and former Seagramchairman, Edgar Bronfman Sr., and the half-sisters of Edgar junior, the chairman of Warner Music Group, Sara and Clare were not simply heiresses to a global empire built by their grandfather Samuel Bronfman. As they would describe themselves, they were also important, wealthy entrepreneurs and philanthropists in their own right—women who bankrolled a web of investments and humanitarian foundations based in the Albany region, where they lived. Indeed, as Clare would tell a court this spring, the extortion demand arrived when she and Sara "were two weeks away from hosting the Dalai Lama in Albany for an event on humanitarian issues."
The alleged threat would have been disturbing if it occurred. But among the many allegations that have been made about Sara and Clare Bronfman in recent months was the charge that Clare was lying about the "extortion" letter. Made in hundreds of pages of court documents that began to leak out to the press this spring, they have stunned friends of the Bronfman family. Many knew that Edgar Bronfman's daughters were involved in a secretive organization called nxivm (pronounced "nexium"), a group that he himself had openly referred to as "a cult." But only a few were aware of what the court documents would reveal—the massive gutting by the Bronfman daughters of their family trust funds to help finance nxivm and the alleged investment schemes of its leader, a 50-year-old man by the name of Keith Raniere. The amount—reportedly $100 million—was staggering and made for eye-popping headlines. But according to legal filings and public documents, in the last six years as much as $150 million was taken out of the Bronfmans' trusts and bank accounts, including $66 million allegedly used to cover Raniere's failed bets in the commodities market, $30 million to buy real estate in Los Angeles and around Albany, $11 million for a 22-seat, two-engine Canadair CL-600 jet, and millions more to support a barrage of lawsuits across the country against nxivm's enemies. Much of it was spent, according to court filings, as Sara and Clare Bronfman allegedly worked to conceal the extent of their spending from their 81-year-old father and the Bronfman-family trustees.
But Edgar Bronfman knew at least some of what was going on, according to those who have spoken to him. And he was deeply concerned, says one ex-nxivm member who met with him last year. "He wanted to know how his girls were. He was worried about them," this person says. "He saw them, but only the façade." They were distant and secretive. "I was afraid," this person says, "to tell him what was really happening." Like many former members of nxivm, this person was afraid of the consequences of speaking out. But in the last few months, people have begun to come forward with stories about nxivm. Stories about private detectives allegedly obtaining bank and phone records of nxivm opponents; stories of its critics being followed and threatened and, in one case, reportedly run off the road by a black limousine; accounts of a motherless three-year-old boy, brought into the group as a newborn under mysterious circumstances, and about the circumstances behind the Dalai Lama's visit to Albany. Suddenly darker questions were being raised about how the Bronfmans' money was being used. Indeed, today, in the multiple lawsuits involving the Bronfman sisters, there are serious allegations being lobbed—not just of possible blackmail and perjury but also of other "potentially illegal" activities, including theft and "a conspiracy to forge documents."
What seems clear, from court documents and interviews with ex–nxivm members—and those who have come into conflict with the group and its mysterious guru—is that Sara and Clare Bronfman could be in serious trouble. And yet, despite his wealth and power, their father, at least publicly, appears to be doing nothing to help. According to some family friends and advisers, however, there may be nothing he can do, in part because, some say, he may have been the one who set all this in motion. Sara and Clare, says a friend of theirs, "are not completely brainwashed. . . . They're more cognizant than you'd think, given the amount of money involved. I think there are personal reasons regarding the conflict they have with their family that keep them affiliated with nxivm. On some level, I think they feel the affiliation is reinforcing their version of things, in opposition to the opinion of their family. I think all the legal, litigious craziness is all about them trying to win this battle with their father."
Mack was super nice to everyone, Kreuk was friendly too. Welling was... less than cheery, but I don't hold that against people on set unless they're acting like outright assholes, which he wasn't. Could've been working longer hours than others, etc. I don't think I worked any scenes with the actors who played Lex or Clark's parents.Tell us more... what about the other cast? Not to change subject too much, it is a shame this is all going on but I grew up with Smallville
I had watched a recent interview with Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum (aka Lex Luthor), and they talked about Tom's weirdness... he probably didn't allow himself to have as much fun as he could or should have back in those Smallville daysMack was super nice to everyone, Kreuk was friendly too. Welling was... less than cheery, but I don't hold that against people on set unless they're acting like outright assholes, which he wasn't. Could've been working longer hours than others, etc. I don't think I worked any scenes with the actors who played Lex or Clark's parents.
Sad (and incredulous!) to read all this stuff now.
Can someone make a mod of this for Far Cry 5? I think i want to shoot Chloe and Lana in a face.
Source? I went to a camp with a kid whose family owned Seagrams.
Guy has like a modernization of the David Koresh lookDoes that guy sort of remind you of the nerdiest, most dad-bod type Tom Welling-like ever?
I had watched a recent interview with Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum (aka Lex Luthor), and they talked about Tom's weirdness... he probably didn't allow himself to have as much fun as he could or should have back in those Smallville days
Indeed. Wow.... this is just....damn, that's...yeah
Strange enough, no one has bothered to start up any youtube comments. @ 2:20, she starts to "cry" and I had to turn it off from the cringe.
The fuck is this garbage? Come on man. Everyone aka the culprits in this deserves prison and rehab for the victims. This is real shit that's fucked up.Can someone make a mod of this for Far Cry 5? I think i want to shoot Chloe and Lana in a face.
Had a crush on her during Smallville.
Thats fucked up if these stories are true.
Read the room
They have sex with the head of the cult who brands, blackmails and tortures them to keep them under his control.This might sound stupid... But what exactly is the point of a sex cult? Read the OP still don't have any idea what they even did or what was happening. Do the members have to sleep with strangers to keep their member ship and stay away from society?
I had watched a recent interview with Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum (aka Lex Luthor), and they talked about Tom's weirdness... he probably didn't allow himself to have as much fun as he could or should have back in those Smallville days
That's really messed up.They have sex with the head of the cult who brands, blackmails and tortures them to keep them under his control.
Rape cult would be more appropriate.
The fact that we even have cults blows my mind. That video above, he's kind of a gentle-toned guy, seems nice enough, but to imprint something beyond that on a person you actually met? We deify celebrities and world leaders, but there's the abstraction of not knowing them. Even historically incredible people, like Lincoln, or whoever, as much as you may value that person as being beyond human, if you were spending time with him, that would very quickly dissipate.
All religion is based on utterly absurd fairytales, but at least they have the ancient thing going for them. I'm sure the historical Jesus was an inspiring figure for his time, but we don't have access to him to remove the mystery, but this dude? She's sat right opposite him. I don't understand it.