The former 'Battlestar Galactica' actress believes Keith Raniere was wrongfully convicted of sex trafficking and other charges.
Former Battlestar Galactica actress and NXIVM member Nicki Clyne is speaking publicly for the first time since Keith Raniere was convicted in 2019 on seven counts, including sex trafficking, racketeering and conspiracy charges, after the self-help organization he founded was exposed as a ponzi scheme and cult that forced many female recruits into sexual slavery.
“It’s very unfortunate the way that the word NXIVM has been applied and is now synonymous with the term sexual cult, which I don’t even know how to define what that is,” Clyne says during an interview with CBS This Morning, in which she and four other members of NXIVM are vocalizing their support of the organization. They are also claiming that Raniere is “a victim of prosecutorial misconduct” in a petition recently delivered to the court.
In addition to being a longtime member of NXIVM, Clyne admits to being a part of DOS, the secret cult of masters and slaves that’s been accused of branding its female members with Raniere’s initials, forcing them into starvation and tasked with seducing Raniere. She’s also married to high ranking member, Allison Mack, the former Smallville actress who pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in April 2019.
“We're not denying that certain things took place,” says Clyne, who was never charged with a crime. “There’s evidence that certain things happened. How they happened, why they happened and why certain people chose them -- that's a whole other conversation.”
“I feel like the biggest limitation is that we judge ourselves,” Clyne is seen saying during a NXIVM meeting in footage featured on the HBO docuseries The Vow. The actress who is famous for playing Cally Henderson on the Syfy series was close to other Vancouver, Canada, recruits, including co-star Grace Park.
In 2018, federal prosecutors claimed that Mack and Clyne were married "at the behest of NXIVM co-founder Keith Raniere." According to People, a one-time publicist for the cult alleged, “Nicki has been in the cult for 12 years. She quit her regular role with Battlestar to follow Raniere.”
Currently detained in a Brooklyn detention center, Raniere is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 27 and is facing up to life in prison. Meanwhile, Mack, who is out on bail, is still waiting for her sentencing to be scheduled and reportedly faces up to 20 years behind bars.
Clyne reveals that the two haven’t spoken after being asked how Mack was feeling about her sentencing. “I haven't been able to speak to her for a year and half. Part of the conditions of her bail is that she can't speak to anyone who is affiliated in any way with the case or NXIVM,” she says.
Later, when asked if she would go back and still have been involved with Raniere and NXIVM, Clyne says, “Yeah. I wouldn't trade my experiences for anything.”
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