You know how Smallville star Allison Mack"s been outed as an alleged sex-slave cult master, second or third in command of the whole thing? We didn"t want to believe the allegations but … you have to see this.
In the video below, you can see for yourself how Allison Mack raves about Jness, one of NXIVM"s "empowerment" programs, in an effort to use her celebrity status to recruit more members.
And that"s not even the first time that she"s ranted, on camera, about how "wonderful" Jness is.
Allison Mack is accused of being an extremely high-ranking member of NXIVM"s alleged sex-slave cult, DOS.
According to extensive allegations about NXIVM and DOS, women who join the cult surrender nude or incriminating photos of themselves that could be used for blackmail, go on starvation diets, and are required to take cold showers.
Most sensationally, as first revealed by The New York Times" expose, the women are branded in their pubic region with the initials of Keith Raniere.
NXIVM presents itself as a self-help organization with a hierarchy, but was accused of being a pyramid scheme of sorts for ages — well before the abuses within were revealed.
The expose that came out this year detailed how the women are subjected to corporal punishment if they fail to do sufficient recruiting on their own.
To make matters more disturbing, Allison Mack is now believed to be Keith Raniere"s second- or third-in-command, and has been described as "both a perpetrator and a victim" of the brainwashing and abuse within the alleged NXIVM cult.
The video below, in which Allison Mack actively promotes NXIVM"s "empowerment" program, Jness, is pretty alarming in a number of ways. But she"s been speaking Jness" praises on camera for years.
In a 2013 Q&A, Allison Mack had a lot to say when "a fan" asked the "totally not planted" question of what it"s like to work for Jness.
She spews a lot of word salad — that is, she uses a lot of words without saying much that is concrete or sensible.
"Working for Jness I think is the most gratifying thing that I"ve ever done."
Again, this is an actress who starred on a TV show that ran for 10 seasons.
"It"s the most challenging thing I"ve ever done because it consists of working with a group of people in a way that is totally interdependent."
She tries to define what she means by that.
"Meaning: we"re all working together and no one is ever punished and no one is ever told that they"re wrong and they"re bad."
That seems at odds with everything that we"ve heard about NXIVM.
"The most important thing in working for Jness is relationships in Jness."
That"s something that you"d expect to hear from a cult member about a cult. If somebody"s discouraged from having close friends who aren"t part of their religion or self-help group, something is wrong.
"And I"m not used to that, I"m used to the objective being met, I"m used to having, like, strict hard fast deadlines and lots of fear and punishment if I don"t get it right."
What does she mean by "lots of fear and punishment," exactly? Was there some scary stuff going on behind the scenes on Smallville if actors forgot their lines? We somehow doubt it.
"And in working for Jness, there isn"t any of that, so it comes purely from a place of self-motivation and self-direction."
Again, part of the recent allegations is a claim that "slaves" who fail to properly obey Allison Mack are subjected to corporal punishment.
The creepy, cult-like language increases … in fact, Allison Mack is starting to feel a lot like NXIVM"s answer to Scientology"s golden boy, Tom Cruise.
"And that is really difficult. But I would say that working for Jness is the most satisfying and purposeful thing that I"ve ever done. Watching the women who are in Jness completely transform and evolve in a way that is so pure is such a privilege."
Now, talking about "transforming" is innocuous on its own, as lots of people talk about that when they talk about improving their lives.
But using the word "pure" in this context is … a red flag. It"s just creepy language that"s probably been repeated over and over.
"And really literally seeing people"s life paths completely turn … where in one moment, they felt that this was all that they had and all that they could do, and all of a sudden they come through Jness and they start working with us and in our community."
When someone is branded, fearful of punishment, and subjected to a starvation diet, we"d imagine that they do seem to "change" pretty suddenly.
"It"s like a whole "nother life is born out of their new experience of themselves. And that"s an incredibly satisfying, gratifying thing to do."
"I think it"s challenging because I think Jness is an organization that looks to all participants to be 100% responsible for themselves and for their lives, so it makes it hard to blame people for mistakes that are made when you"re always looking at your own responsibility and participation in the situation."
That is barely intelligible.
"But that"s just hard for my ego and my pride."
It sounds like Allison Mack has been told that some of her original thoughts are just the products of ego and pride and need to be suppressed for her own well-being. That"s just a guess, though.
"Once I started the program I realized what I was looking for wasn’t a relationship, it was an experience about myself and in my life."
Well, allegedly seeking out sex partners and ordering them to Keith Raniere"s bed, which is what the claims say is one of her responsibilities, sure sounds like an experience.
"And once I understand how to have that experience about myself and in my life for me, then I can have the relationship I want or not, but I’m okay in either circumstance."
That"s just an overly complicated way of saying "I need to know myself before I date," but … there seems to be a lot more behind the scenes.
"Going forward into my life from this place with that recognition I feel like the possibilities are endless and there’s no fear of shooting what I want for ideally, there’s not reason to settle because any way I look at it I’m going to be good, and that’s awesome."
If you"re noticing that she"s using words and phrases in strange ways, a lot of cults have insulated language habits that they use to exclude outsiders, reinforce their ideas, and forge a sense of belonging.
"We have a much more joyful and a much more efficient existence."
Yeah, that sounds like a line that aliens would say right before they extract your brain.
"Working for Jness is grounding and satisfying and humbling and wonderful."
Again, we don"t think that Allison Mack is deliberately behaving in a predatory manner.
There"s nothing sinister to her intentions.
Accusations suggest that she was recruited at a vulnerable point in her life and probably started off in the "normal" self-help parts of NXIVM, and it"s claimed that she was gradually brainwashed like the others — and, because of her celebrity status, promoted.
As you"ll see in this video, though she"s always been a slender gal, Allison Mack looks shockingly gaunt.
We"re not body-shaming her or concern-trolling, we"re just alarmed by the starvation diets that have been reported to go on within NXIVM. It"s claimed that Allison Mack consumes only 500 to 800 calories a day.
Though Allison Mack is accused of perpetrating abuse to other cult members, we have to wonder where — after brainwashing — accountability begins and ends.
