Allison Mack is now opening up about her involvement with the sex-trafficking cult NXIVM, of which she became a key member. The former actress recently shared her experiences as part of a seven-part podcast called Allison After NXIVM. Aside from detailing the inner workings of the cult, Mack also lightly discusses her work on the long-running superhero show Smallville. Among the topics Mack discusses is her friendship with former co-star Kristin Kreuk, who she alleges is the person who introduced her to the organization.
Both Kristin Kreuk and Allison Mack joined Smallville at the start of its first season, with the pair playing Lana Lang and Chloe Sullivan, respectively. At the time, both actresses were teenagers and had only just landed what would end up being massive roles for them. During the premiere episode of Allison After NXIVM (which is on YouTube), Mack recalls she and Kreuk becoming quite close while working together. As they hung out and even vacationed together, they discovered they were also having some of the same internal feelings:
We went to Syria and Turkey together, we went to Mongolia together, we went to Paris, and we had so much fun. We went to Paris multiple times together and just shopped and saw art and sat on the top of the Pompidou and had rosé and just like, lived this kind of dream thing. And we both were at the point where we were 25, we were in New York City together. It was our break, and we had rented an apartment in the same building in the West Village. And we both were like, ‘Why do we feel so unsatisfied?’
The Wilfred alum went on to recall that at the time, both she and her co-star had “beautiful boyfriends and all the things.” However, Mack felt what she now describes as a sense of “odd emptiness.” Eventually, Mack and Kreuk became aware of a “life-coaching course” that some Vancouver-based actors were taking, which was headed up by NXIVM (Keith Raniere in 1998). In time, Kreuk took a course and then allegedly relayed her experiences to Mack, as the latter claimed on the podcast:
It was like, all she could talk about. She was just super excited about it. She had a coach, and she was talking about Vanguard and Prefect, which are the names you called Keith and [co-founder] Nancy [Salzman]. But Kristin was like, ‘There is an organization that Keith’s created that’s just for women. It’s just for women, and they’re doing a weekend. And I think you should do it, and I think you’d really like it.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, well, if I think I should do it and I’ll like it, I’ll do it.’
Around the time that details of Allison Mack’s involvement with NXIVM began to surface, Kristin Kreuk released a statement. When responding to allegations about her own ties to the organization, Kreuk, at that point, said that she’d left about five years prior and that she “took an Executive Success Programs/NXIVM ‘intensive’” under the pretense that it was “a self-help/personal growth course.” Kreuk said that any claims that she was part of “the “inner circle” or recruited women as ‘sex slaves’ [were] blatantly false.”
Mack’s involvement, on the other hand, goes deeper, as she admitted to working closely with Keith Raniere (with whom she also became romantically involved). As part of the cult, Mack helped recruit other young women, who subsequently became her “slaves.” During the podcast, Mack talked about the power she felt over the women who were subservient to her. She even likened her behavior at that time to that of a “dictator.” Mack also established other aspects of the group’s culture, even helping to establish a way of branding the women.
Ultimately, Allison Mack was arrested by federal agents in 2018 and charged with sex-trafficking, sex-trafficking conspiracy and forced labor conspiracy. She eventually pled guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges and was ordered to serve three years in prison. Mack was released early, however, and her stint behind bars concluded in 2023. Before serving, though, Mack also released a statement in which she apologized for her actions.
Kristin Kreuk hasn’t spoken in depth about her connection to NXIVM, though she is featured in part of the docuseries The Vow, which is streamable with an HBO Max subscription and examines the aforementioned cult. As for whether Kreuk will respond to Allison Mack’s latest comments remains to be seen.