NXIVM sex cult trial witness says Smallville star Allison Mack kept Catherine Oxenberg's daughter on a 500 calorie a day diet and threatened to starve her friend as a way of keeping her compliant
- Former member of NXIVM's master-slave group DOS, 31-year-old actress named Nicole, testified in leader Keith Raniere's trial this week
- Nicole said Smallville actress Allison Mack, 36, lured her into DOS by painting it as a women's empowerment group
- She said when she became friends with Catherine Oxenberg's daughter, India, Mack threatened to starve India as a way of keeping Nicole compliant
- Nicole said that Mack also kept India on a 500 calorie a day diet
- Around the time she joined the group in February 2016, Nicole said she was depressed and suicidal, and thought DOS would help her
- The witness claimed Mack coached her to write letters accusing her parents and ex-boyfriend of misdeeds, to be used as 'collateral'
- When Nicole tried to leave, she said Mack told her, 'You can’t go back, it’s not an option'
- Raniere, 58, is on trial for racketeering, sex trafficking, forced labor and conspiracy; he has pleaded not guilty
- Mack has pleaded guilty to racketeering charges stemming from her role in DOS
A witness in the NXIVM master-slave sex cult case testified that Dynasty star Catherine Oxenberg's daughter was kept on a 500 calorie per day diet while she was in the alleged cult.
An ex-NXIVM member, going by the name 'Nicole,' took the stand Friday to testify that Smallville actress Allison Mack, 36, an alleged NXIVM slave master, threatened to starve India Oxenberg, 28, as a way of keeping Nicole obedient, according to the New York Post.
Nicole, 31, an actress, claimed that after she and India became friends, Mack would use India 'to make me behave.'
A woman testifying during the NXIVM master-slave sex cult trial said Catherine Oxenberg's daughter, India (pictured in 2017) on a 500 calorie per day diet while she was in the cult
The extra-low calorie diet was said to have been part of Mack's efforts to get India 'down to a certain weight,' which Nicole said was just 107 pounds.
Nicole said watching India struggle on her forced diet 'was just really hard to watch sometimes, tough on her' and that the diet was 'tough' on India.
Witnesses had previously stated that accused NXIVM leader Keith Raniere, who is on trial in New York City, liked his 'slaves' to be skinny, deprived of sleep and compliant.
Nicole said that when she finally decided to quit NXIVM, Mack told her that Nicole's decision to leave was having an impact on India.
'The first thing Allison said is "Look what this is doing to India, she hasn’t eaten since she got your email,"' Nicole said, adding that India then said of Mack's comment, 'Well, that’s not entirely true.'
Nicole also testified that Mack's nickname for her was 'The Brat,' while she called India 'The Princess.'
The witness said that after she and India (left in 2015) became friends, Mack would threaten to starve India to keep the witness obedient. India's mother, Catherine Oxenberg, is at right
The witness, a 31-year-old actress recruited by Allison Mack (picture in April) for the master-slave sex club DOS within NXIVM, testified that the TV star sold it to her as a women's empowerment group
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During her testimony, which is scheduled to continue Monday, Nicole also described how Mack had lured her into the master-slave sex club, by painting it as a women's empowerment group and telling her she could play Wonder Woman.
'I wanted to be like Wonder Woman, I wanted to play that role,' Nicole told the jury Friday.
Over two days of testimony, Nicole recounted for the court how Mack allegedly coached her to write letters falsely accusing men in her life, including her own father, of sexual abuse.
She also said Mack ordered her to stop having sex with her actor boyfriend, and pressured her into being celibate for three months.
When Nicole began having second thoughts about joining the secret group known as DOS, or The Vow, she said Mack informed her that she could not back out.
'You can’t go back, it’s not an option. Like an arranged marriage,' Nicole said Mack wrote to her in an email.
Mack has pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges stemming from her role in DOS, the secret society within NXIVM consisting of women who prosecutors say were brainwashed by Raniere’s teachings, branded with his initials and pressured into having sex with him.
Raniere, 58, is being tried for racketeering, sex trafficking, forced labor and conspiracy. He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
In the prosecution's opening statements delivered last month at the outset of the trial, Nicole was said to have been strapped to a table, blindfolded and subjected to forced oral sex performed on her by a female 'slave,' reported Albany Times-Union.
Nicole testified that it all began in February 2016, when she met up with Mack at The Ace Hotel in Manhattan to talk.
She knew the TV star from an acting class she had taken in April 2015 at the suggestion of her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Canadian actor Mark Hildreth.
The witness testified for the prosecution in the trial of self-help guru and NXIVM leader Keith Raniere (depicted in a courtroom sketch on May 7)
The class, called The Source, was developed by Raniere and led by Mack, reported Courthouse News.
Nicole said she paid thousands of dollars to the program, but was weary of the idolization of Raniere and regarded his followers' claim that he was the smartest man in the world as 'just bulls***.'
The witness said she first came in contact with Raniere and Mack in April 2015, when her then-boyfriend, actor Mark Hildreth (pictured), encouraged her to take an acting class run by NXIVM called The Source
Nicole, a transplant from California, was feeling depressed by the New York winter and lack of acting jobs, and confided in Mack during their February meeting she was having suicidal thoughts.
According to her testimony, Mack suggested she join a women's empowerment group, which she described as 'really cool,' to turns things around in her life.
'I think [I agreed to join] because I wanted something to be hopeful for, and I thought maybe what she was talking about would help,' the witness said.
Nicole noted that Mack had made no mention that the leader of the group was Raniere. '
'It's a women's empowerment group, so if a man had been running the thing it doesn't make sense,' she told the jury. 'I wouldn't have been interested.'
Nicole broke down in tears on the stand recounting how she agreed to furnish Mack with 'collateral' in the form of letters containing bogus allegations of sexual misconduct against her father, and additional false claims casting blame on her mother and an ex-boyfriend.
A month after joining DOS, Nicole said she began having doubts when Mack gave her three assignments, the first of which was to stop having sex with Hildreth.
The witness said Mack made no mention that the leader of the group DOS was Raniere (shown)
The second assignment was to be celibate for three months. When Nicole later met a 'cute boy' and gave him her number, she said Mack grew angry at her and accused her of violating her orders.
At that point, Nicole said she decided to leave DOS, but Mack told her should could not break her commitment.
Her third assignment, revealed to her a week later, was to 'reach out to' Raniere' over Facebook, according to witness testimony.
'How do you get the attention of the smartest man in the world??' Mack wrote to Nicole.
The witness is expected to resume testimony on Friday as Raniere's trial, currently in its fifth week, continues.
