India Oxenberg has an article in People Magazine, entitled What I Wish I Knew About Grooming: India Oxenberg Reflects on Her Experience in Nxivm
In the article, India does not reveal hardly anything about NXIVM or DOS, or her time spent there. Mainly she discusses some general warning signs that a person might in fact being in a coercive or high control organization.
People Magazine calls NXIVM a cult and states that “India Oxenberg is a survivor of the Nxivm cult, whose top leaders, including Keith Raniere and Allison Mack, were sentenced to prison.”
Ironically, India’s story was published on Raniere’s birthday, August 26, 2021.
India Oxenberg [Photo Credit: People Magazine]
India Oxenberg’s story in People is a fairly lengthy one, and below is reprinted the only paragraphs that touch on actual details of NXIVM.
For the complete article click here
“I was 19 years old when I was recruited by members of a cult called Nxivm. I felt directionless at the time and was looking for structure and guidance. I felt vulnerable and ill-equipped for life on my own.
“I thought I needed to know certain things about myself to move forward with my goals and dreams. I believed that Nxivm, and the people there, could mentor me toward becoming stronger and more capable of starting my own small business and help me in my own self-discovery.
“I trusted them; these people seemed like they had it all together. They were intelligent, successful, and charismatic. These were all the things I wanted for myself. Little did I know, at the time, that this façade was one of many consumer-front products and companies used to lure, target, and recruit new members….
“I was groomed for the leader of Nxivm [Keith Raniere] through his higher-ranking members and the education that they taught. It wasn’t until I entered into the higher controlled group that he actually had sexual access to me because of the blackmail and the grooming done by Allison Mack. It made me an easier target for that kind of abuse because he knew I wouldn’t and couldn’t tell anyone anything.
“Two of those years were spent in an even higher controlled inner circle [DOS] within the organization that maintained secrecy with the use of blackmail, extortion, and destabilization of its victims/recruits to the point where we were incapable of making our own sound decisions…
“I hope that my story serves as an example of how anyone, especially those in times of transition, can be vulnerable to coercion and manipulation.”
Allison Mack (left) and India Oxenberg [Photo Credit: People Magazine]
While India is short on details of her experiences in NXIVM and DOS in the article, she does have a laundry list of things to look out for and provides her explanations of what they mean and how to accomplish the following:.
Learn to recognize “love bombing”
Beware of attempts to isolate you
Watch for coercive behaviors
4. Listen to your intuition
It’s not your fault
Find your source of strength
Use your voice if you’re ready
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Town and Country Magazine writer Annie Goldsmith has ranked Sarah Edmondson’s book Scarred among the top 10 best fiction and non-fiction books on cults.
Granted it is merely a personal list, it is revealing that Edmondson’s book is ranked alongside such classics as Helter Skelter
Annie Goldsmith
Here are Annie’s top ten cult books.
1. First, of course, is Liane Moriarty‘s Nine Perfect Strangers, the novel upon which the [HBO] series is based. In the book, nine guests gather at a wellness retreat, though each is hiding their own secret. Most mysterious of all is the retreat’s director, Masha, whose cultish leadership and dark past make the story all the more suspenseful.
2. The Girls: A Novel–The Girls debuted to much critical and popular success when it was released in 2016. The story focuses on Evie Boyd, a teenager in 1960s Northern California who falls prey to an infamous cult, which includes a slew of young women and their mysterious male leader.
3. Helter Skelter: The True Story of the Manson Murders – In Helter Skelter, prosecuting attorney Vincent Bugliosi gives the definitive inside account about the Manson Family, one of the most well-known cults of all time. The group gained notoriety for their brutal murders in the late 1960s, with victims including actress Sharon Tate and four others. Bugliosi’s nonfiction work discusses both the cult itself and how he built his case against its leaders.
4. The Followers–Rebecca Wait’s novel chronicles the story of a struggling single mother, Stephanie, who ends up following a charismatic man into a “secret society.” While Stephanie falls in line with the group’s strict protocols, her daughter, Judith, begins to grow skeptical of her surroundings.
5. Scarred: The True Story of How I Escaped NXIVM, the Cult That Bound My Life –
If you were enthralled by the HBO docuseries, The Vow, or Starz’s Seduced, then Sarah Edmondson’s memoir is required follow-up reading. Edmondson spent 12 years in the harrowing NXIVM sex cult, and eventually became one of the lead whistleblowers influential in its demise.
6. Though Makkai’s novel is not entirely about a cult, one of the characters’ entry into one is a major plot point. The Great Believers, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, charts two storylines, grappling with the lasting effects of the 1980s AIDS crisis.
7. Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche – In 1995, members of a religious cult released poisonous gas on the Tokyo subway. Here, Murakami, best known for his works of fiction, takes a journalistic deep dive into this terrorist attack, piecing together various firsthand accounts to paint a fuller picture of the tragedy.
8. Breaking Free: How I Escaped Polygamy, the FLDS Cult, and My Father, Warren Jeffs – Another account about escaping a cult, Rachel Jeffs’s memoir follows her life growing up as the daughter of Warren Jeffs, the leader of a “radical splinter sect of the Mormon Church” and, in 2006, a member of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List. In the text, Rachel describes her traumatic childhood and chronicles her departure from the group.
9. The Leftovers: A Novel – The Leftovers, like Nine Perfect Strangers, spawned its own HBO series by the same name. The dystopian book operates on the premise that a number of people simply vanished with no explanation. The “leftover” citizens take to various practices as coping mechanisms, including—you guessed it—cults.
10. Cults Inside Out: How People Get In and Can Get Out By Rick Alan Ross –
If you’re looking for a more general overview of cults as a phenomenon, Ross’s book gives high-level analysis of real-life cults through history. He examines everything from recruiting to internal manipulation, and how he and other experts work to “deprogram” former devotees.
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Nancy Salzman is in the runup to her sentencing [September 8th]. She has been excoriated in these pages and by the prosecution. There are I believe at least 9 victim letters and several women are expected to speak at her sentencing.
It will not be pretty. And she is likely to get some prison time. Perhaps five years or more.
She has had another blow. Her father, Milton Loshin, died on August 15th. Loshin was married to Lorraine and they had two daughters, Nancy and Carole Koss. Steven Kass is Carole’s husband and he is CFO of Tofutti, an ice cream company.
There is very sparse info about Milton, but since Nancy is in her mid-60s, Milton evidently was an elderly man.
Clare Bronfman [July 25 2018. Photo by Mary Altaffer/AP]
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Clare Sentence Appeal
Clare Bronfman will be filing an additional brief regarding the appeal of her sentence of 81 months, arguing that hers was excessive when compared to Allison Mack, who got 36 months, and Lauren Salzman, who got probation. Both women pleaded guilty to more serious charges than Clare did. Both women got significant downward departures from the sentencing guidelines while Bronfman got triple the upper guidelines of 27 months, largely because she continues to support Raniere while both Salzman and Mack denounced him.
The litmus test, she will possibly argue, is not the crime committed, or the reasonable sentence for those crimes, but whether or not one denounces Raniere or supports him.
An appeal of a sentence is, if successful, sent back to the original sentencing judge, who then can shorten the sentence or not as he sees fit.
Bronfman’s attorneys are Ron Sullivan and Duncan Levin.
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Some Q and A from Nutjob
Nutjob is a man who knew the old-timers of NXIVM: Nancy, Keith and even Toni Natalie back in the 1990s.
He asks the following questions and I answer them to the best of my ability.
Nutjob – as I picture him.
Will John Tighe ever make another FR appearance?
Does Tighe have thoughts on the Rule 33 motion?
An update on The Lost Women of NXIVM
Details on when Claviger’s computer was hacked
What do Kristin Keeffe and Karen Unterreiner think of Nancy Salzman?
What do they think her punishment should be?
What was it like when Nice Guy went to butt camp?
What base did Frank make it to with Nancy?
Was there a morning omelet?
Does Ronnie still send money to Ghana?
Why does Malcolm Butler bully Ice-Nine?
When Frank stayed at Clare’s farm, did he help with chores?
If yes, which ones?
If no, what kind of a houseguest is he???
Frank Parlato
To answer your questions,
Will John Tighe ever make another FR appearance?
I believe Tighe will make an appearance shortly. Having been imprisoned unjustly for five years and just emerging, I think he is entitled to some rest and normalcy before he reemerges publicly.
Does Tighe have thoughts on the Rule 33 motion?
If he does, I have not spoken to him about it.
John Tighe
An update on The Lost Women of NXIVM
The Lost Women of NXIVM was a commercial and critical success and I want to get around to making Part 2. Right now I am filming for two other productions and have been extremely busy. I will have more to say about this later.
Details on when Claviger’s computer was hacked
I do not believe that Claviger’s computer was hacked.
K. R Claviger’s computer was not hacked as far as I know. In fact, I am not certain Claviger even has a computer.
What do Kristin Keeffe and Karen Unterreiner think of Nancy Salzman?
What do they think her punishment should be?
That’s a good question. They were good friends with her. Kristin warned Nancy to get out of NXIVM back in 2014 or she would wind up in prison. Nancy chose to ignore the warning and you see the result. I think both women have a soft spot for Nancy and probably do not wish to see her imprisoned.
Nice Guy
What was it like when Nice Guy went to butt camp?
My understanding is he enjoyed it immensely.
What base did Frank make it to with Nancy?
We never got further than a touch on the hand.
Was there a morning omelet?
There was no morning omelet, but there was a vegetarian dinner at her house and a vegetarian dinner at a restaurant.
Does Ronnie still send money to Ghana?
This model was used to deceive Ronnie and others into sending money to Ghana.
Yes, Ronnie sold his house and moved into a tiny apartment because he sent something like $50,000 to men in Ghana pretending to be the woman pictured above. I tried to stop him from sending the money, and he rebelled. He actually secretly sold his house so I would not find out about it and try to stop him from giving the bulk of the proceeds to the criminals in Ghana.
Why does Malcolm Butler bully Ice-Nine?
I do not know what Malcolm Butler is doing but I believe that Ice Nine is more than capable of taking care of himself.
When Frank stayed at Clare’s farm, did he help with chores?
Neither Clare nor I did any chores. Clare was kind enough to provide me with several assistants who handled all manner of chores. It was enough of a chore just to manage and advise Clare and the others of NXIVM.
