Inside Allison Mack's Twisted Role in Keith Raniere's NXIVM Cult and Why She Called It Her 'Biggest Mistake'

Allison Mack was once known as bubbly blonde Chloe Sullivan in the hit Superman-inspired show Smallville, but she shocked the world when she was arrested and accused of trafficking women to a "twisted" cult leader.

Three years after her release from prison and just ahead of her 44th birthday, RadarOnline.com revisits her role in Keith Raniere's NXIVM cult.

Mack, 43, was first introduced to NXIVM in 2006 by Smallville co-star Kristin Kreuk.

At the time, it was marketed as a self-help group, but it eventually became a horrifying, multi-level-marketing-style s-- cult known for branding and trafficking women.

Kreuk, also 43, later clarified via social media that she left the group roughly five years before it hit headlines for criminal activity and denied she was ever in the "inner circle" or involved in recruiting women as "s-- slaves."

She was never charged with any wrongdoing.

But Mack remained involved and rose through the ranks, serving as a recruiter who coerced women into the organization, promising mentorship and self-improvement.

She allegedly became sexually involved with Raniere nine years after first joining the group.

Eventually, Mack "directly or implicitly" also "required her slaves, including Jane Does 1 and 2, as identified in the Indictment, to engage in sexual activity with Raniere," according to a press release shared by the Department of Justice.

On April 20, 2018, Mack was arrested and charged with s-- trafficking, s-- trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy.

In 2019, the actress pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy-related charges, but the trafficking charges were dropped. Before her sentencing, she apologized for her actions and those she harmed.

"I threw myself into the teachings of Keith Raniere with everything I had," she said in a letter. "I believed, wholeheartedly, that his mentorship was leading me to a better, more enlightened version of myself. I devoted my loyalty, my resources, and, ultimately, my life to him. This was the biggest mistake and regret of my life."

"I am sorry to those of you that I brought into Nxivm. I am sorry I ever exposed you to the nefarious and emotionally abusive schemes of a twisted man," she continued. "I am sorry that I encouraged you to use your resources to participate in something that was ultimately so ugly. I do not take lightly the responsibility I have in the lives of those I love and I feel a heavy weight of guilt for having misused your trust, leading you down a negative path."

Mack was sentenced to three years behind bars. She only served 21 months and was released on July 3, 2023.

Following her release, Mack once again spoke out on her role in the group. She publicly claimed she'd been brainwashed, and ultimately, she victimized other women, using her "success" in the entertainment industry as a "power tool" to get people to "do what I wanted."

"I was not kind, and … I was abusive," she admitted in a podcast series titled Allison After Nxivm.

She also recalled being a "go-between" between the cult leader and another woman.

"The more she said, ‘I’m scared, I don’t want to do it,’ the more I would say, ‘You need to do it, and the longer you wait, the more consequences there will be,'" she said. "The coercion started, and the pressure and the pressure and the pressure … And then it was – like – rape."