Allison Mack talks about 'bad things she's done' as a high-ranking member “sex cult” NXIVM in a new podcast.
Released on Monday”Ellison after NXIVMis a seven-episode series in which the former Smallville star details her time as a young actress and how she became involved in a supposed self-improvement group, as well as her role in manipulating women into becoming sex slaves. NXIVM leader Keith Raniere and possible criminal consequences.
“I don't consider myself innocent,” Mac says in an early episode, admitting that she used her acting success as “a powerful tool… to get people to do what I wanted” and that she was “very effective in moving Keith's vision forward.”
In a later episode, she accepts claims that she was a “harsh monster” during her time in NXIVM.
“I wasn’t kind, I wasn’t aggressive, I wasn’t violent,” Mack says. “I was harsh, heartless, aggressive and strong, which hurt people. [I] really made people feel like they had no choice and was incredibly offensive to people, traumatic for people.”
In 2019 Mack pleaded guilty racketeering charges stemming from her role in NXIVM and its subgroup DOS, a so-called “secret society” of women who were branded with Raniere’s initials and forced to have sex with him. Mack was one of the “masters” in the group, a lieutenant assigned by Raniere to recruit and coerce other women. She was sentenced to three years in federal prison in 2021 and was released in 2023. (Raniere is currently serving a 120-year sentence after being convicted of human trafficking and other fees.)
But while she admits that “all of these accusations are 100% true,” she also claims that she is “a person who cares deeply and really wants to grow, and really wants everyone I've been involved with to grow… [B]both of these things are true about me.
“I definitely recognize and acknowledge that I abused my authority,” Mack says. “But I also can’t deny the fact that part of me was altruistic and desperate to help people. [I] I wanted to be better, and I was willing to do anything to become better myself and to help other people become better.”
The podcast series also touches on what Mac has been up to since his release from prison. She is studying for a master's degree in social work and pursuing a doctoral program in expressive art therapy. She also works for a nonprofit that helps bring creative arts such as music, theater and poetry to prisons.
In the summer Mac married Frank Meenka prominent former neo-Nazi who now advocates for racial diversity and acceptance. The couple met at a dog park shortly after Mack was released from prison in 2023. According to podcast host Natalie Robemed, Mac now goes by the name Allison Meeink.
Robemed also mentions “Allison After NXIVM,” the latest installment of the true crime podcast.Expandcame after Mack approached journalist Vanessa Grigoriadis following her release from prison, hoping to tell her own story for the first time. Grigoriadis, who is an executive producer on the series, interviewed Mack before her arrest.
NXIVM was also the subject of the 2020 documentary series “Oath” And “Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult“
