Her Darkest Role: Actress Allison Mack’s Descent From ‘Smallville’ to Sex Cult
Like many in Hollywood, Mack sought spiritual guidance outside the mainstream. But 12 years after checking out a women’s empowerment seminar, she stands accused of recruiting “slaves” and branding women with a hot cauterizing pen. Through interviews with close friends and ex-members of the Nxivm cult, THR reveals how a charismatic fan favorite allegedly morphed into the leader’s №2 and explores the persistent allure and pernicious effect of cults on entertainment.
Published in
21 min readJun 4, 2018
By Scott Johnson, Rebecca Sun
One Saturday morning in late 2006, several dozen people filed into an unremarkable hotel conference room in Vancouver, British Columbia, for a two-day introduction to Jness. The program was billed as a “women’s movement” within Nxivm (pronounced NEX-ee-um), an umbrella organization offering a host of personal growth courses attended by thousands of people around the world. Chairs were arranged classroom-style in the room, coffee and tea on offer in the back. Nxivm’s president, Nancy Salzman…
