Branding Bodies & Filmed Nudity: Ex-NXIVM Member Exposes Allison Mack's Corrupt Behavior In New Tell-All
Sept. 12 2019, Updated 8:48 p.m. ET
Allison Mack is currently awaiting prison sentencing for her racketeering crimes in the NXIVM sex cult, months after she pleaded guilty. Now, former member Sarah Edmondson is ripping the lid off of the former Smallville star’s corrupt actions in the disgraced organization for the first time – and RadarOnline.com has exclusive details of the revelations.
In Scarred: The Truth Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult that Bound My Life, out on Sept. 17, Edmondson bravely comes forward about the horrific abuse she both witnessed and endured at the hands of the organization’s highest executives, during the 12 years she was a member.
Edmondson, a Canada native, wife and mother of two, tells the story about how she abruptly left NXIVM in 2017 after learning that the “women’s empowerment group” known as DOS that she joined was actually an inner sex ring, where women were branded with cult leader Keith Raniere’s initials.
As RadarOnline.com readers know, Raniere, 58, was found guilty of seven felonies, including sex trafficking and child pornography, on June 19, 2019. Like Mack and her co-defendants Lauren and Nancy Salzman, and Kathy Russell, Raniere is also awaiting a hearing that will determine how long he will live behind bars. Sentencing hearings for each of the five defendants have yet to be scheduled.
In the shocking memoir, Edmondson recalls joining NXIVM years ago after being told it would help her achieve financial freedom and boost her acting career. Instead, the former member would learn that NXIVM and its powerful leaders would attempt to take advantage of her in several ways.
Edmondson is now known as the whistleblower who, after learning of NXIVM’s inner sex ring, went to great lengths to alert fellow members and the FBI.
In a meeting with former prosecutor Moira Penza in 2017, Edmondson was credited for speaking her truth – a move that the Assistant United States Attorney confirmed initiated the government's investigation into NXIVM, she wrote.
Edmondson, who met and knew Mack, 37, for years, claimed in the novel that NXIVM's dangerous branding ritual took place in the disgraced TV star’s upstate New York home.
Edmondson said she followed Lauren Salzman’s orders to attend a DOS meeting, where she was forced to wear a blindfold and strip naked in front of other female members.
“I know where we are: this is the home of Allison Mack, a modest ranch-style house that sits on a corner in the area of Knox Woods,” Edmondson wrote.
“My guess is confirmed when we make our way farther into the house and from under the bottom of my blindfold I can see the feet of ornate furniture.”
Edmondson claimed that Mack was known for spending lavishly. The former actress would go on “designer shopping sprees” with Lauren Salzman, she wrote.
Edmondson said she was told she would be receiving a “tattoo” on that fateful day in Mack's home. But it turned out she and others received Raniere’s initials burned into their flesh by use of a cauterizing iron. She recalled witnessing a woman named Gabriella receiving the same painful treatment.
“When the iron first makes contact to her skin, Gabriella’s whole body flips and tweaks, as if she’s being electrocuted. She screams out in pain,” Edmondson wrote.
Scroll through RadarOnline.com’s gallery below to learn more revelations written by Edmondson.
Blindsided
Edmondson said when she first learned of DOS, she had no idea what it really was. She was dubbed a “slave” of her "best" friend and fellow member, Lauren Salzman, whom she was instructed to call “master.”
Horrifying Details
Over time, Edmondson was instructed by Lauren to recruit other females to the inner sex ring, without knowing just what DOS would actually entail.
Branded Women
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, Mack confirmed that she developed the DOS branding ritual. Edmondson revealed in the memoir that she was told the “tattoo” was a “symbol of the four elements.”
True Meaning
It wasn’t until after receiving the brand that Edmondson realized it was a design made up of the letters K and R, which stand for Keith Raniere.
Baring All
Edmondson also wrote that the women were forced to strip down to no clothes while Lauren Salzman and the doctor performing the branding remained fully clothed. During the branding, Edmondson recalled Lauren telling the group, “You need to get over your body issues, ladies.”
Sex Claims
Edmondson also confirmed that Mack’s alleged wife, Nicki Clyne, also an actress, was a member of DOS. The author said she questioned whether or not Clyne was sleeping with Raniere after Clyne once told her she “had to be available for Keith,” she wrote.
Big Lies
The author even recalled being secretly videotaped while in Mack’s home. “As I get up, I watch Lauren take down her iPhone, which I realize had been propped up on the mantel of the fireplace behind us.”
Dark Secrets
Edmondson said previous trainings had been videotaped to her knowledge. But DOS members had “never known them to videotape us in secret…and certainly not when we’re naked.”
Lavish Spending
As the criminal activity took place around them for years, Edmondson claimed Mack “loved to buy designer brands like Marc Jacobs.”
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Career Boost?
Originally, Edmondson said Mack had joined the group because she, too, believed it would propel her acting career. However, as soon as Mack moved to Albany, New York, she stopped auditioning altogether.
Moving On
Fast-forward to today, Edmondson said she is still trying to heal from the nightmares she lived in NXIVM. In addition to working with doctors to cover up her “scar,” the brave whistleblower revealed she has spoken with cult experts and therapists to deal with the trauma NXIVM caused.
Shocking Tell-All
To read more about Edmondson’s shocking claims against Mack and the rest of NXIVM’s co-conspirators, Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult that Bound My Life hits shelves on September 17.
