SAC.BREAKING — ALLISON MACK STUNS HOLLYWOOD WITH SHOCKING NXIVM CONFESSIONS IN EMOTIONAL REUNION WITH SMALLVILLE’S MICHAEL ROSENBAUM
Allison Mack Reunites With ‘Smallville’ Co-Star Michael Rosenbaum to Detail ‘Insidious’ NXIVM Cult, Reveals Keith Raniere Sent Her a Letter
Allison Mack is sharing more of her story. In a new episode of the “Inside of You” podcast, Mack reunited with “Smallville” co-star Michael Rosenbaum to explain what happened following her arrest and prison time for her part in the NXIVM cult and enabling leader Keith Raniere.
Mack, who told her full story for the first time on CBC podcast “Allison After NXIVM,” spoke openly with Rosenbaum; the two have known each other since 2001 as they both starred as Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor, respectively, in The WB (then The CW) drama. But during the interview, they didn’t speak about the show; instead, they detailed her 12 years in the NXIVM cult — and when things began to go south.
“Stuff didn’t start to get really dysfunctional and illegal until the eighth or ninth year that I was involved,” she told Rosenbaum. “It was a very stereotypical, now that I look back at it, grooming process that happened over a period of time… it was a different form of an abusive relationship.”
But during her time, even when people began leaving, “there was always a justification” or an excuse that she was told, so she ignored things that were clear red flags. “It’s this insidious little community where everybody stays connected to each other, and everybody’s reinforcing the belief system that everybody has. And then you get in so deep.”
After her 2018 arrest, Mack was placed on house arrest for three years, traveling back and forth to New York to participate in dozens of interviews with prosecutors and police. “It was walking through the gates of hell. It was horrible,” she said of the interviews. “It was difficult because I was still trying to figure out what happened… I just felt crazy.”
She leaned very much on her mom, sister and a few close friends during this time, because “90 percent of the people in my life stopped communicating with me,” Mack said.
The actress also had “moments of suicidal ideation,” she said. The first was when she was hiding in Mexico after Raniere’s arrest, staying alone in a penthouse apartment for two weeks. “I went out on the balcony and thought, ‘I could jump and this could be over.’ But then I wouldn’t know what happens next, and I want to know what happens next. And it will be different tomorrow, I need to just hang on through this.”
The next was during house arrest, trying to come to terms with what she’d done, work with the police, navigate the paparazzi and wonder whether she would be convicted of a sex crime. “All of these realities were so heavy and dark and painful,” she said. “I would have moments where I felt like, I don’t know that I can carry this anymore. And then I’d think, ‘If I kill myself, I’m gonna hurt my mom so bad. I can’t do that.’ So I didn’t.”
Mack stated that she’s not allowed to speak to any of the people involved in NXIVM, but everyone on trial received a letter from Raniere before the trial began. “I did not read it,” she said, adding that she doesn’t know what it says. “I’m not yet at a place where I’ve forgiven him because I haven’t fully comprehended what he did. I’m still working on that.”
She added, “It’s a really complicated thing to be both a victim and a perpetrator. I think I’m still working through that, and I think my feelings around Keith are enmeshed in all of that as well. He’s an evil man. And it’s good that he’s not around.”
She also discussed how unwell she was during her time in the cult, but knows that what she did was wrong.
“I so deeply believed that what I was doing was righteous and good and powerful and transformational and profound. I was living on 500 calories a day. I was running 5 to 6 miles every morning because that’s what Keith wanted,” she said, “I was so sick. But I didn’t feel any of it because the fanaticism was so present.”
Rosenbaum noted that he knows she’s not doing many interviews, thanking her for coming on the “Inside of You” podcast. “It meant a lot when you reached out. You were one of the first people from my old life that reached out,” That’s the only reason I’m here,” she said before tearing up. “It meant more than you could know that you have been kind. I think that just speaks to your character.”
A Variety and iHeartRadio Podcast
