'The Vow' Episode 6: Meet Barbara Bouchey, NXIVM founder Keith Raniere's ex-partner who turned whistleblower
In HBO's miniseries, 'The Vow', viewers get in-depth retellings from former members of NXIVM (pronounced Nex-e-um) that dominated the news a few years ago when it was revealed that a secret society within NXIVM was operating as a sex trafficking front. Both the founder, Keith Raniere, and actress Allison Mack — a prominent member of the group — were arrested on trafficking charges among others.
After a six-week trial in 2019, Raniere was convicted in June 2019 of charges including racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, forced labor conspiracy, sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and attempted sex trafficking. 'The Vow' features former members including actresses Sarah Edmondson and Bonnie Piesse as well as Piesse's spouse and filmmaker Mark Vicente.
In this week's episode — the sixth of the nine-episode docuseries — Edmondson and her husband, Anthony Ames, along with other former NXIVM members are celebrating the publication of a story in The New York Times featuring Edmondson revealing her experience with NXIVM and the branding ceremony with DOS. During the celebrations, she receives a call from Barbara Bouchey, a former NXIVM executive board member and former partner to Raniere, who tells Edmondson that she is proud of her and does not feel so alone anymore. Bouchey had spent nearly a decade bringing out allegations about NXIVM and Raniere. The episode then brings in Bouchey in front of the camera, as she describes her experiences with Raniere.
Bouchey attended NXIVM's Executive Success Program (ESP) and met Raniere after being recommended by Nancy Salzman, the co-founder of NXIVM, whom Bouchey had been seeing as her therapist. Bouchey was not immediately impressed by Raniere whom she did not find physically attractive. However, after attending ESP workshops, she found herself being drawn to him because of his mind. Bouchey goes on to describe Raniere flirting with her and beginning a sexual relationship with her. It was not until later that Bouchey learned that Raniere was sleeping with other women in NXIVM as well. Bouchey broke up with Raniere in 2008 and in 2009, she left NXIVM.
She wrote in The Frank Report that NXIVM and Clare and Sara Bronfman — heiresses to Seagram fortune who were bankrolling Raniere and NXIVM — launched seven lawsuits against Bouchey, and even had her arrested, claiming that she revealed confidential information and violated restraining orders. When Bouchey had resigned — with other women who were part of the executive board including Susan Dones, Kim Woolhouse, Angela Ucci — she had included a list of expenses she wrote that Raniere and Salzman owed her. However, Raniere claimed this was extortion and proceeded to sue the women. None of the women were ever charged with the crime of extortion. NXIVM, however, did attempt to assert a civil extortion claim against Susan and Kim Woolhouse in their subsequent bankruptcy case. That charge – like all the other charges that NXIVM attempted to assert in that case – was dismissed when NXIVM refused to turn over any of its financial records to the court.
'The Vow' airs on HBO on Sunday nights at 10/9c.