Smallville’s Allison Mack Arrested In Connection With Alleged Sex Trafficking Cult

 

In one of the stranger news stories of the day, former Smallville star Allison Mack has been arrested for her alleged connection to a sex trafficking cult operating out of upstate New York.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor will be arraigned later today on charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and forced labor conspiracy. Since at least 2010, when she left Smallville as a series regular, Mack has been involved in the work of Keith Raniere, founder of a self-help organization called NXIVM and an alleged cult leader under the name “Vanguard.” Acting on Raniere’s behalf, Mack allegedly recruited young women for a supposed female mentorship program. The real intent, as alleged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office Eastern District of New York, was to exploit the women Mack found both “sexually and for their labor, to the defendants’ benefit.”
In 2017, The New York Times and Rolling Stone ran articles about NXIVM after a number women came forward saying they were branded with a symbol based on Raniere and Mack’s initials as part of an initiation into the supposed women’s group. Soon, the women found themselves part of a secret society within NXIVM known as DOS; itself an acronym for a Latin phrase which translates into English as “Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions.” They were required to hand “compromising material” like naked photos over to their assigned “masters” and forced into starvation programs as part of the group’s activities. It was also reported that Raniere considered these women his sex slaves.
Mack was specifically called out as Raniere’s number two person within DOS and a recruiter in the Rolling Stone piece. Video of her interviewing Raniere can be found on various YouTube channels.
Another video of Mack, this time watching Raneire being taken into custody on March 26th, surfaced shortly after the alleged cult leader was extradited back from Mexico. At the time, the U.S. Attorney’s office said it was still weighing the evidence against Mack before arresting her.
On Smallville, Mack played Clark Kent’s (Tom Welling) best friend and intrepid girl reporter Chloe Sullivan. Co-star Kristin Kruek, who played Lana Lang on the series, allegedly introduced Mack to NXIVM, but has denied any involvement with the group since 2013. In a statement she issued on Twitter, she said her involvement with Reniere’s inner circle was “minimal” and that she only took some of the group’s self-help courses to deal with her shyness. Other alleged DOS members include Seagram heirs Sara and Clare Bronfman and Battlestar Galactica‘s Nicki Clyne.