'He’s misunderstood': Allison Mack's ex-spouse Nicki Clyne calls Nxivm leader Keith Raniere 'kind'
TUCSON, ARIZONA: Canadian actress Nicki Clyne asserted that disgraced Nxivm leader Keith Raniere is a “kind” person even though he is convicted for a pattern of racketeering activity including human trafficking, sex offenses, and fraud. Clyne was a former member of the Nxivm a now-dismantled organization that has been widely described as a "sex cult." She is also precluded from communicating with Raniere, 62, while he’s in jail.
In an exclusive interview with Page Six, the 39-year-old said, "Contrary to what most people might believe, Keith is a very joyful and kind and humorous person." “I miss just being able to have conversations with him about life, about philosophy, about deeper existential issues of why we’re here,” she continues, explaining that she hopes to reestablish contact with her ex one day. “I really always valued his opinions and his thoughts on things. I just think he’s a very misunderstood person.”
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Following his 2019 conviction on charges of federal sex trafficking, racketeering, and possession of child pornography, Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison. The controversial figure was also fined $1.75 million and is serving time at a prison near Tucson, Arizona. “Certainly my purpose here is not to get people to like Keith,” says Clyne. “But there’s a lot of things I miss about Keith, about the community and all the people who were involved.”
In 1998, Raniere and cohort Nancy Salzman founded Nxivm. It offered “Executive Success Programs” and promised self-improvement through a range of techniques with an emphasis on bringing “more joy” into people’s lives. Many prominent personalities including the likes of Hollywood icon Shirley MacLaine, 'Star Wars' alum Bonnie Piesse, Hallmark actress Sarah Edmondson and “Smallville” star Allison Mack, took part in workshops at Nxivm’s headquarters in Albany, New York.
Mack was married to Clyne from February 2017 until December 2020 and then notably joined DOS, which is a coalition that Clyne, also a member, has insisted was “separate” from Nxivm. The women’s respective relations with Raniere affected their marriage. Mack was sentenced to three years in prison in June last year. She was imprisoned at a Dublin, California, facility after pleading guilty to charges she manipulated women into becoming DOS sex slaves and is unable to communicate with ex-wife Clyne.
“People are conflating an organization with thousands of people with Keith’s private sex life,” Clyne has told the outlet. “From my point of view, every woman who had a relationship with him did so because she wanted to.” The actress known for her role as Cally Henderson on the SyFy television series 'Battlestar Galactica' also believes every woman who committed to DOS was aware of the fact that their skin would be branded with Raniere’s initials.
“Anyone that decided to join DOS, to the best of my knowledge, knew that getting a brand was part of it. And part of the brand was this commitment, this act of solidarity with the other women in the sorority,” she claims. “It’s something that men do in fraternities all the time,” Clyne further notes. “I think that there’s just certain elements that have made it sound very ugly. And I’ll admit, if I heard it from the outside, I would have those same reactions.”
This is Keith Raniere, a convicted sex offender that was the cult leader of NXIVM. Here he's calling women "fish-holes." We know Johnny Depp called #AmberHeard a "flappy fish market." Before this year, I didn't know that fish insults against women were this popular with abusers. pic.twitter.com/AJbJIXHRg9
— Dani Fethez (@DaniMet1) December 29, 2022
Acolyte Dr Danielle Roberts used a cauterizing tool to permanently stamp nearly 20 women just below their bikini line with “KR" initials between January and May 2017. His medical license has since been revoked. In her book “Scarred,” the recorded video ceremonies were described as “a sadistic type of conditioning" by reformed Nxivm follower Edmondson, 45.
Allison Mack just left federal court in Brooklyn. She entered a plea to racketeering charges in connection to an alleged sex cult called NXIVM. She’s accused of recruiting sex slaves for its spiritual leader, Keith Raniere. pic.twitter.com/hI5xR387xf
— Kevin Rincon (@KevRincon) April 8, 2019
Clyne expressed satisfaction and pride when asked to share her feelings about her own branding symbol today. “I feel great. I feel proud of my decisions,” she says. “I mean, you can barely see it. It’s really not a big deal. But I feel good about what I chose and why.” Clyne thinks that the brands have become a polarizing topic within discussions about Nxivm and DOS because of Edmondson’s depiction.
“I think the reason it’s so controversial is that one woman said that she was told it was going to be something different than it was. Now, I wasn’t there when she was invited, but part of the protocol of being invited is that you’re told about the brand ahead of time,” Clyne claims. “People get tattoos out of friendships or bonding all the time. And it was much more similar to that.” She adds without naming Edmondson specifically, “I think it’s very suspicious that only one woman out of 105 says that she was told something different.”
Clyne never faced any charge amid Nxivm’s downfall and is no longer in contact with Edmondson. She, however, is in contact with fellow veterans who, like her, still hold reverence for Raniere. “There’s eight of us and we’re close friends. There’s also a number of other women who were part of DOS who don’t wish to be public because there’s just still so much prejudice,” she alleges. “And even saying that you had a positive experience, people sometimes feel threatened by or it makes them uncomfortable.”
Clyne says adjusting to life post-Nxivm and -DOS has been easier than expected. “I think DOS prepared me to … be able to manage a lot of the hate and the attacks that I get and to really stay centered within myself and not identify with these ideas about me that are in the public,” says Clyne, who does not consider herself a victim. “I don’t want to toot my own horn but I think I’ve acclimated pretty well, considering the amount of adversity [I’ve faced].”