Nxivm’s battle star
Actress defends sex cult
“Battlestar Galactica” actress and Nxivm devotee Nicki Clyne — the wife of former “Smallville” star Allison Mack — defended the upstate cult Tuesday, saying she wouldn’t trade her experiences in it “for anything.”
“It’s very unfortunate the way that the word ‘ Nxivm’ has been applied and is now synonymous with the term ‘sexual cult,’ which I don’t even know how to define what that is,” Clyne told CBS’s “This Morning” alongside four other Nxivm members.
The five supporters recently brought a bizarre petition to Brooklyn federal prosecutors demanding they answer questions about alleged prosecutorial misconduct committed against Nxivm leader and convicted sex trafficker Keith Raniere.
Raniere was convicted on a slew of charges in 2019 for starting a master-slave group within Nxivm called DOS — in which women say they were forced to seduce him, go on strict diets and have his initials branded onto their skin.
He’s currently behind bars awaiting an Oct. 27 sentencing in Brooklyn federal court.
Clyne, who allegedly quit her job on the sci-fi series to follow Raniere, admitted to being a part of DOS but defended the group.
“We’re not denying that certain things took place,” Clyne, who has never been charged with a crime, told CBS.
“There’s evidence that certain things happened. How they happened, why they happened and why certain people chose them — that’s a whole other conversation.”
The Canadian actress — who has recently been seen in footage from the purported self-help group in the HBO docuseries “The Vow” — gave the interview a day before Seagram’s liquor heiress and Nxivm executive Clare Bronfman is set to be sentenced for own her part in the group.
Mack has pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges for her role as Raniere’s right-hand woman — admitting that she instructed members “to perform services for me” and that the victims felt “they could suffer serious harm” if they didn’t, because they’d handed over damaging collateral like nude photos.
Federal prosecutors claimed in 2018 that Mack and Clyne were wed “at the behest of . . . Keith Raniere,” but the two haven’t spoken for a year and a half as the demure blonde awaits sentencing.
“Part of the conditions of her bail is that she can’t speak to anyone who is affiliated in any way with the case or Nxivm,” Clyne told CBS. “This has been the hardest, most humbling experience of my life.”
Despite the serious charges against Nxivm, Clyne said she wouldn’t hesitate to continue being part of the group.
“I wouldn’t trade my experiences for anything,” she said.
Clyne’s petition to federal prosecutors attracted unexpected support from Amanda Knox — whose 2009 murder conviction in Italy was famously overturned.
Knox told the Albany Times Union she isn’t very familiar with Raniere’s case but signed on to ensure the prosecutors hadn’t engaged in misconduct “regardless of Mr. Raniere’s guilt or innocence.”