All language subtitles for The.Vow.S01E06.Honesty.and.Disclosure.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-NTb-eng

MAN:
You look like you need a rest.

WOMAN:
Truthfully, my branding story
isn't nearly as bad

as some of the other stories
that have emerged.

WOMAN 2: I am desperate.

I don't know what else
we can do at this point.

WOMAN: I've decided to go
on the record and expose this.

MAN: The New York Times
is the last attempt

to just blow this thing open.

REPORTER:

MAN 2: The greatest fear
that everyone was expressing

was the fear
of legal retaliation.

WOMAN: NXIVM is trying to get me
arrested on three fronts.

Putting myself out there
and being the face of this
is terrifying.

WOMAN 3: I was
the first significant person

in the entire organization
to ever leave.

Buckle your seat belt.
They're coming for you.

Mommy, can I have a waffle?

- For breakfast?
- Yeah.

Yeah.

Hello?

Sarah Edmondson:
Hold on. Let me look for it.

Edmondson:
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold on a sec, Troy.

- Mommy!
- Edmondson: Wow.

Mommy!

Edmondson:
You know the "MeToo" thing,
right?

Stylist:
Mm-hmm.

If this Harvey Weinstein
story had broke

and I hadn't experienced
what happened in ESP,

I would be this equally
not supportive.

Or like, not as compassionate,
apathetic,

because I'd be like,
why, why wouldn't they
just leave the room?

Stylist: You know,
if anybody's ever been in
an abusive relationship,

it's no different.

You spend most of your time
defending yourself.

Edmondson:
Oh, my God.

(exhales)

Nippy Ames:
Look at the Bill Cosby thing.

Look at the
Harvey Weinstein thing.

There isn't a place
in our culture right now

where women who have
these abuses happen to them

can go and get taken seriously.

Unfortunately,
you have to use
the media to do that.

(dishes clattering)

♪

Edmondson:
"Waking up this morning

"to almost every woman
friend of mine with this status

"moved me to tears,
and then rage.

"I used to think that
these things never
happened to me,

"but it has.

"In England at a rave.
In Israel in a bathroom.

"And most recently
in Knox Woods,

"Clifton Park, New York.

"Naked, pinned down,
mutilated, and videotaped."

(keyboard keys clacking)

"Me too."

("Dream State"
by Son Lux playing)

♪ Days we were young ♪

♪ We took photographs of
everything we could see ♪

♪ We had to run from it ♪

♪ Priest and prophetess ♪

♪ We were nothing
we would defy ♪

♪ Oh, invisible skin ♪

♪ Where is the world within ♪

♪ Invincible skin ♪

♪ It's how we all begin ♪

-(phone chiming)
-Producer:
I just got a notification.

Catherine Oxenberg:
A notification about what?

-Really?
-Producer:
It's, like, popping up.

- Holy shit! Holy shit!
- You just got it? Let's see.

-Look!
-"To join the self-help
group's inner circle,

"some women provided
compromising material
about themselves.

Then they were held down
and branded."

Bonnie Piesse:
It's happening.

Mark Vicente:
Wow, no, this shit's
about to explode.

Oxenberg:
It's front page of
the "New York Times."

- This is what we wanted!
- Vicente: That's very good.

Oh, my God!
Oh, my God!
(pants)

Piesse:
With the "MeToo" shit,
this is going viral.

Edmondson:
Holy fuck. Nip!

I'm front page of the
"New York" fucking "Times."

(inhaling)
Oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

- Ames: Wow.
- (exhales)

-Shit, Sarah.
-Edmondson: Oh, my God.
There's a picture of my brand.

(sighs)

"Albany, last March,
five women gathered
in a home near here

to enter a secret
sisterhood they were told
was created to empower women."

Oxenberg:
"A copy of a text message
Mr. Raniere sent

"to a female follower indicates

"that he knew women
were being branded,

and the symbols designed
incorporated his initials."

"If it were Abraham Lincoln's
or Bill Gates' initials,

no one would care."

That's what he said to somebody?

"Several former members
have asked state authorities

"to investigate the
group's activities,

but officials have declined
to pursue action."

- Fuck them.
- Vicente: Yep.

Fuck you all.
Shitheads.

(phone ringing)

Edmondson:
Hold on. Mark's calling.

-Hi.
-Vicente (over phone):
Holy fuck.

My phone has just been going,
like I'm literally,

-phone call to phone call
to phone call.
-Oxenberg: Oh, my God.

Edmondson:
Like, I gotta go. Here's Mark.
Gotta go. Here's Mom.

-Gotta go. There's a reporter.
There's the...
-Woman: There's my chiropractor.

There's my chiropractor.
I missed my chiropractic
appointment.

Vicente:
In some ways, this is like,
like another beginning now.

Ames:
Yeah, no, the fireworks
are gonna start.

Vicente:
There's a certain,
like, unloading

- of emotion going on.
- Edmondson: Yeah.

I love you, Bonnie.

I love you, Sarah.

Edmondson:
No, seriously.
I really fuckin' love you.

- You were so brave.
- I love you, too.

We're having a moment.

Edmondson:
You were the bravest,
first one.

That must have been
scary as fuck to try and
leave when you did.

It's just...
This is crazy.

Ames:
This is gonna be
a roller coaster.

It's gonna have inertia
going one way, inertia
going the other.

But I think it's a steady climb,

-towards, whatever. Justice.
Whatever. I mean...
-Vicente: Absolutely.

What are they gonna do now?

What is the worst-case scenario
they're gonna do?

Vicente:
Yep. Agreed.

Edmondson:
Love you. Bye.

(line dialing)

Oxenberg:
Barry, it's Catherine Oxenberg.

I just finished reading
the article,

and I want to thank you
from the bottom of my heart.

This is gonna help
save my daughter.

I'm so incredibly grateful.

- Edmondson: Hi!
- Man: How's it going?

Edmondson:
Welcome to the
"New York Times" party.

(people laughing)

The party's gettin' started.

Hi. Just to let you know,
you're on speaker.

There's a bunch of ex-ESPians
at my house.

We're having a
"New York Times" party.

- Vicente (on phone): Hey, guys.
- Woman: Hey.

Edmondson:
Everyone's on their phone,
texting, tweeting.

Sending it to people
who are still in,

making sure the right person
sends it,

-so we don't trigger
their pride.
-(laughing)

(blowing raspberry)

-We're a little, we're a little,
we're a little...
-(phone beeps)

Oh, someone's trying to...

Barbara Bouchey is trying
to call me right now.

- Oh, my God.
- (phone beeping)

Should I answer that?

Barbara Bouchey:
Some people say,
"I'm too busy!

I can't squeeze anything in!"

You're exactly
the type of person that
needs the program.

You know why?
Your life is obviously
controlling you.

- Bouchey (over phone): Sarah?
- Edmondson: Hi, Barb.

Edmondson:
Yeah. I think that was
very smart.

And I posted the "MeToo."

You should go on my Facebook
and check it out.

(Bouchey speaking)

Thank you.

(Bouchey speaking,
voice breaking)

Yeah.

Bouchey:
So, I just...

Edmondson:
No. You're not alone anymore.

You guys already
know this from Mark.
Barbara was my field trainer.

-Barb taught me...
taught me everything.
-(Bouchey laughing)

- Woman: Everything you know?
- Edmondson: Everything I know.

- That was, that was her?
- That was her.

You told me that story,
but I didn't know it was
Barbara Bouchey.

-I guess her name was
blacklisted back then.
-Yeah.

- Now you're back.
- Now you're back.

(Edmondson laughing)

(Edmondson laughing)

(keyboard keys clacking)

Edmondson: Well, I'm hoping
perhaps the authorities will
take another look.

Bouchey:
So this is it.

These are the old... VHS.

I haven't seen them
in ten years.

And so, we're gonna be
watching them for
the first time.

♪ ♪

April 2009,

myself and eight
key women resigned.

We thought that people
would wake up at NXIVM,

that we could get
the government involved,
and hold Keith accountable.

This needs to stop.

It's manipulative and deceptive,

and not transparent,
and you don't know that.

Of course,
it didn't do anything.

Bouchey:
Yes, and I decided to
surprise Keith.

His father gave me some videos
when he was a little kid,

and so I compiled that.

("Thank You" by Led Zeppelin
playing over computer)

This was his song that
he would play for me
all the time,

by Led Zeppelin,
that says "thank you."

So, of course,
I put it in there,
'cause, you know...

I'm a romantic.

-That's me. So...
-Producer:
Why'd you make this tape?

It was his birthday.

And, you know, I...
At this point now,
was in love with him.

♪ Kind woman,
I give you my all ♪

So, yeah, so I started
the trend of creating
tribute videos.

I did one for Nancy
for her birthday.

(heroic music playing)

Producer:
Okay, are you ready?

Who is Nancy Salzman to you?

Nancy Salzman,
I met in the late '80s.

Nancy was a therapist,
and I was referred to her
for stress management.

My mom died when I was eight.
My dad was a severe alcoholic.

And, uh, I would get
stressed out about things,

'cause I needed to control
my environment.

So Nancy, she helped me a lot,

and we became friends.

And around the year 1999,

um, she, uh, tried to
convince me to take a workshop.

She and Keith had formed
the company at that time called
Executive Success Programs.

(applause)

It was the first time in my life

that I visited those wounds,

and that childhood trauma.

Keith Raniere:
There's a part
of our existence

that is indescribable.

Like, for example,
the experience of pain.

You could say,
"Well, you have nerves that fire
and go up into your brain."

Those are signals.
That's not the
experience of pain.

Because there are
certain aspects where
you really like pain.

Ever have someone
hit the volleyball
at you fast?

Really hard, and you receive it?

Doesn't it feel neat
when you hit it?

You know that's pain.

Good pain, though.

Let's go! Ooh!
Aye-ya! Oh!

Get it, get it, get it, get it!

Good. Oh! Uh-oh!
Up. Good!

Oh!

(laughing)

(laughing)

Bouchey:
The last thing I needed
was a boyfriend,

and I didn't
find him attractive.

But after taking the program,

I began to admire
and respect his mind.

(all laughing)

(Raniere speaking)

(all laughing)

- Woman: Thank you so much.
- (all applauding)

(all laughing)

You take my balls...
You take my balls
and go home?

Wait a minute now!

-I mean, that's a nice offer,
I guess.
-Like, I say that...

- (laughter)
- Raniere: Oh.

Bouchey:
Keith began flirting with me
and pursuing me.

Do you want to take my balls?

(imitates rimshot)

But it wasn't until months later

that I actually
started dating him.

(people chattering)

And he would say...

"You are not like
anybody else."

(laughs)

'Cause I was business woman,
and I was all self-made.

I could match him in a way
that other people couldn't.

Keith told me that
we would work together

to help make a difference
in the world.

Hello, everyone. It's, uh,

it's an honor to be
on this call this evening.

I was 40 years old,

and had a highly successful
financial planning firm,

a couple million dollars
in the bank,

and my business was
worth a couple of million,

and one could say I had it all.

But I didn't.

Bouchey (present day):
And I gave up making millions

to help build the company.

I was the first board member

on the very first
executive board.

I created Vanguard week.

(laughing)

-(joyful yelling)
-They had no sales
or marketing material.

And, you know,
they didn't have
any professional image.

Photographer:
Do you feel like
a supermodel yet?

Bouchey:
So that's my business sense
that I brought to the table.

(Raniere speaking)

Bouchey:
During my time there,

I was personally responsible

for probably enrolling hundreds.
Maybe a thousand.

(computer dings)

Edmondson:
So, 24 messages since I last
looked at Facebook.

I'm looking at Twitter now.

Generally, the overall is,

"Holy fuck,
I'm so glad you're out.
You're so brave."

Every now and then
I'm getting a,

"What the fuck?
How could you
let that happen?"

It makes me sound stupid,
but whatever.

You don't...

People don't
understand that, though.

-You don't, you don't
get to be neutral.
-(computer beeps)

You're gonna get praised
and punished for it.

Edmondson:
"I don't feel sorry
for them at all.

"These people in
the Vancouver chapter
were aggressive,

"cliquey, and downright
abusive in some of their
recruitment tactics

"of people within
the Vancouver yoga
and acting communities.

Predators."

- Ames: Holy shit.
- Wow.

"Why would any woman
subject herself to a tattoo

after being made to say,
'Master, please brand me.
It would be an honor.'"

- (keyboard keys clacking)
- Ames: Sarah? Sarah?

Edmondson:
"It's so shockingly sad that
these women felt so lost

in their lives."

"No red flags were flapping?

No one thought,
'Wait a minute? What?'"

"I know we're not supposed
to blame victims, but come on."

(Troy crying)

(crying)

(Troy screams)

-No, no, no, no!
-Edmondson: It's okay,
it's okay, it's okay.

It's okay. Come here.
Come here, come here.

(Troy crying, screaming)

This is my life in general,
but it's way worse right now.

Troy:
I want Mommy!

Ames:
Okay, but,
but she's busy right now,

so you gotta
give her five minutes,
and then she'll come...

- (phone dialing)
- Troy: No!

Ames:
Troy, Troy, look at me.

Barb?

The comments on
the "New York Times,"

I'm really recognizing
specifically how

the main thing that Barry missed

was the steps into
getting involved.

And the psychology
behind the coercion.
So...

Yeah.

Yep.

(Bouchey speaking)

Someone just sent me a link.

"Shocking allegations
about Capital Region
calling group a cult."

Let's, let's play it together.

The report out today says that

some female members
have been branded

with the founder's initials.

- Edmondson: What?
- Channel 13's Dan Bazile

digs deeper into the
underworld of cults...

Edmondson:
Oh, my God.

Does that mean nobody
wants to talk to me?

Reporter:
They shut the door on us,

a sure sign they didn't
want to say a word

about some serious allegations

- in the "New York Times."
- (Bouchey laughing)

What is happening,
essentially...

Jesus.

These are pictures of me,
by the way.

Man (on computer):
your lack of a self.

The person who joins the cult

and the person who
invents the cult,

they kind of suffer from
the same disease.

This kind of fragility,
or narcissism.

♪ ♪

Ames:
So, I'd say best-case
scenario is

there's enough public outrage

for law enforcement to go,
"Okay. We got it from here."

-Yeah.
-Ames: Look,
the branding and all that,

is the headline. Right?

And that's the
physical manifestation

of multiple abuses,

primarily in
the emotional realm,

which are harder to quantify,
and harder to prove.

It's very important that
that's the narrative
of what's being told.

Edmondson:
The Union... "Times Union" guy?

- Yeah, I think so, too.
- Ames: Yep.

Oh, my goodness.

- (Brendan Lyons speaking)
- (laughing)

- Edmondson: Yeah.
- (chuckles)

So, what was left on
the cutting room floor

- for you, when you thought...
- Yeah. A lot.

A lot. And, you know,
they broke the story,
but you can, um,

you can... you can do the rest.

They left out the nuances
of how the recruitment was done.

If they had said,
"Hey, do you wanna get
Keith's and Allison's initials

branded on your vagina?"

I definitely would have said no.

Um, but it was step
by step by step by step.

You know, people's boundaries
and conscience

are being messed with here.

Keith assumes this
moral high ground that
he just doesn't have,

but he's convinced
an insular group of people
that it exists.

And then, they don't take in
any more information
from the real world.

Edmondson:
And also, they left out
that with the women at the top,

sex with Keith is part of
the enlightenment.

(people chattering)

There are people sitting
over in the chairs there.

I don't think they need to.

- Who?
- To our left.

Bouchey:
Around 2006,

a lot of people had
bought into the belief

that Keith was really, truly
an enlightened being.

And if you have sex
with the guru,

it actually moves
your evolution.

No, it's up here.

Bouchey:
But did they see
a halo over his head?

Did the bells ring, you know?
No, I didn't have any of that.

But the truth is,

I had a lot of
intimacy problems.

If you grew up without touch,

without cuddling,
without being hugged...

I don't know...
You can't receive.

Keith was very loving, gentle,
attentive, affectionate.

And he helped me
work through a lot of that.

To accept love, to receive love.

I really felt that, um,
he was my soulmate.

And the women
in the inner circle

who lived with him
for decades said that.

Raniere:
Recorder on you.

(playing chords)

Bouchey:
He was living with
Karen Unterreiner.

(laughing)

Pam Cafritz.

Woman:
What's Odin?

- Odin?
- Woman: Mm-hmm.

Is a Norse God.

Bouchey:
And Kristin Keeffe.

Kristin Keeffe:
Which color

do you think
I should dye my hair?

This is an important question.

Raniere:
This. Has more red.

Can you make it
lighter or darker,

depending on how long
you treat it?

Bouchey:
You can look back

and always see the red flags.

But, they presented it like,
you know, a dormitory.

When I walked into his house,

whoever was in there
made room for me
to sit next to him.

So, for all general purposes,
what I could see,

I was the girlfriend.

There's something about me

that I can carry on

a very odd life.

And in some ways...

Yeah, it's odd in a lot of ways.

Like again, the number of women

that have been with me
a long time.

You've been with me
almost 30 years.

You've been with me
almost 20 years.

How does that happen?

Why me?

♪ ♪

Everyone that's ever received
a Hallmark card,

someone said something
about someone touching
their heart.

It sounds good
and it may be true,

but how do you express
to an audience who doesn't
know me at all,

do you say, "He touches my..."

If you saw a video about...

A bunch of people saying
a guy touches someone's heart,

what do you get from that?
Do you really get it?

Why is that I can have
a relationship with

multiple women for a long time?

Not for about a year.

(people cheering, chattering)

Emcee: Woo!
Ladies and gentlemen,

put your hands together
and get ready to sing

a very happy birthday
one time...

The count of three,
from everybody... One!

Crowd:
Two! Three!

(crowd cheering)

(whistling)

Emcee:
Well, this is the party
if you wanna...

I think Nancy can't
help herself...

(emcee continues indistinctly)

(both laughing)

I know.

To the (indistinct).
Oh, all right.

Barbara Jeske.

(chatter, laughter)

♪ Rubber penis,
you're the one ♪

-Man: ♪ You make
dance time lots... ♪
-♪ ...of fun ♪

Keith said,
"So I have sex with Barbara.

What's the big deal?"

And maybe once,
twice a year, that's all,

he had sex with her
as her guru teacher.

(dance music playing,
party chatter)

But then, I found out
about the next woman.

Pamela Cafritz.

And I confronted them.

And they didn't hold back.

"Yep."

And then all this
other stuff came out.

Karen Unterreiner.

'Cause now I'm suspicious
of everybody he's living with
in that house.

(woman speaking)

I'm looking for someone.

(crowd chattering)

Woman:
It's getting hot.

Bouchey:
During my nine years there,

there were 12 women
he was intimate with.

I was humiliated.

I felt betrayed.
I was in shock.

But you don't know things
and you don't know people,
until you do.

And everybody is a blend
of good and bad.

And you can't see the bad
if you don't understand
how they use the good.

Oh, thanks, babe.
Thank you.

Okay, here we go.
First radio interview.

Thank you.

- Woman: Sit right here.
- Edmondson: Okay.

The last 12 hours have been
actually pretty insane.

All of a sudden,
it's like, "Holy shit.
The whole world knows."

(clears throat)
It's hard to know
how it reads to people

who don't know
about any of this.

Because now that I'm out
and I'm looking at the people
who are still in,

they just look crazy.

And so like, the, you know,
the frog in the pot of
boiling water,

what was implanted from
the very beginning
that's caused,

um...

you know, such a fracture
in my psychology

that I would even
get to the point
where I said, "Okay,

Master, it would be
an honor to brand me."

Um...

That night,
it was like a horror show.

And then there's Lauren
saying, "You a green.
You need to do this." And,

"What does it mean, Sarah?"

Lauren Salzman:
What does it mean
to be afraid?

Edmondson:
Like, this is the
kind of mind-fuckery.

It was immediately always
flipped back to you,
being your issue.

A lot of people
are reaching out,
like, "Oh, my God.

Like, what man did this to you?"

And technically,
it was the women.

It was the women
who pinned me down.

It was the women who scarred me.

It was the women who
did the manipulation.

But it was under
direction of a man.

And it was all for,
in my opinion,
a man's pleasure.

And I didn't really
recognize how much

that was a massive, um,

assault on me emotionally
and physically,

and I just felt compelled
to share it.

And these women
feel it's a beautiful,
noble attempt

to teach women strength,

and to teach women empowerment.

To be the type of women
that they could be,

and I am fucking
that up for them.

Bouchey:
This is from Keith.
"Happy birthday."

"Dance like no one's
watching you.

"Sing like no one can hear you.

"Love like you've never
been hurt before.

And live like it's
heaven on Earth."

And he wrote,
"I just think of you
every time I read this.

I love you, Keith."

There's a lot of people
think there's nothing wrong

with multiple consenting
sexual relationships.

And these women
bought into that concept,

and also the concept that
it was the way to evolve
your soul.

(camera shutter clicking)

I just had a problem
with it all.

(applauding)

We have an amazing show.

So, once I found out about
some of the other women,

Keith stopped talking to me.

Until the inner circle all
met with me for three days.

You know,
"Keith is your soulmate."

"What's the big deal?"

"Makes you really
angry and jealous.

Wouldn't you rather not
have those feelings anymore?"

And I did love Keith.

And I wanted to get
through my issues.

I didn't like feeling jealous.

I didn't like feeling angry.

I felt out of control.

I gave it the Girl Scout try
to not be so attached
to the penis.

But anytime Keith and I
had a disagreement,

or an argument, he'd hang up.

And then I'd get the phone call
within five minutes

from one of those other women.

"Keith says that
you're blaming him."

"He's flat out on the couch.
You wiped him out."

"Keith is not gonna talk to you,

"until we work through
this issue with you,

and we give you
the green light."

They made me think
that I was just crazy.

That went on for years.

I mean, I remember one time,

they came in 60 days in a row.

Groups to mentor me.

So what is blame?

A way to be right.

Being a victim.

Reporter:
NXIVM released
a statement saying

they firmly oppose
violence and abuse.

They also say the allegations
are unfounded.

Oxenberg:
Uh, I'm looking at
India's Facebook.

Okay, so she posted the
official NXIVM statement.

And she says,
"For anyone who's read

"the recent article from
the 'New York Times, '

"this may help answer
some questions,

and alleviate any confusion."

Which it doesn't.
It doesn't address anything.

It makes us even more confused.

"Thank you for your
care and concern,

"It's been an
incredibly sad situation,

"and I've anticipated
this article.

"I am absolutely fine.
Great, actually.

"I would never put myself
or the people I love into
any danger.

"These are my friends
and colleagues.

"I've never seen anything but
good come out of this work.

Please share if you feel
compelled to let people know
what's really going on. India."

Oxenberg: I doubt it.

Uh, I think she has people
pushing her.

Oxenberg:
I mean,

this is so hard. Oh, my God.

So this woman says,
"I don't know you as
a woman and sister,

"but I'm compelled
to write to you.

"We live in intense
and confusing times,

"and we've all a drive
to feel that

"we play a meaningful part
in this mysterious life.

"Being without meaning
can be scary.

"Not knowing how to navigate
this life can be scary.

"But maybe ask yourself,
what exactly are you so
invested in

guarding, hiding,
keeping in the shadows?"

Bouchey:
Come on.

Before I quit,
I broke up with Keith.

And then we needed to
figure out how I could work
within the organization,

which I still thought
had a lot of good,

where Keith and I had
a platonic relationship.

Well, Keith stopped
talking to me.

And you cannot be
a high-ranking person
in an organization

where the leader
is not talking to you.

And then Keith
and the inner circle

secretly told people that
the reason they saw me
distressed

and emotional

was because my soul
had an ethical breach.

They actually told people
I was going crazy.

And nobody told anybody

that I had had
a relationship with Keith,

and that it was all because
I broke up with him.

How dare I?

Raniere:
Where are you going?

No, I was just waiting
to talk to you before I left.

- I was gonna go check on Lauren.
- Okay.

Bouchey:
By using sex and intimacy
with women,

it allowed him to then
unduly influence them,

and gain more control and power.

(chatter, laughter)

In Keith's world, not having
an intimate relationship

with someone key
in the organization

was the kiss of death for him.

He was losing
control of me fast.

I had about 40 NXIVM
coaches and proctors

who confided in me issues
with leadership and hierarchy,

and I was gaining
momentum with this.

- What is this?
- This is my "V" meter.

(crowd laughing)

It tells you how close you are
to being fully integrated.

Bouchey:
One of them was Susan Dones,

who ran the center in Seattle.

Two 16-days,

-four level twos,
and about 500 EMs.
-Wow!

♪ ♪

It's like I had one foot in
and one foot out.

Well, what's the difference
between a hundred percent
honesty

and a hundred percent
disclosure?

What's the difference
between those?

Susan Dones:
And, you know,

I spent hardly
any time at all
with Keith Raniere,

but I didn't like the whole, um,

guru-y kind of thing with him.

So, back to the
whole thing about titles.

So, we have...
We all got together,
and...

"Vanguard" got the
highest number of votes.

I didn't want to be
called "master."

Dones:
I asked Barbara, I said,

"Why is Keith not
talking to you?"

And she said,
"I can assure you that

"I haven't done anything bad.

"But I can't talk
to you about why,

um, Keith and I
aren't talking."

And so then I shared with her
that I was thinking of leaving.

And she said, "Don't leave yet.

Come back to Albany
and let's, let's talk."

And I held a forum at my home

to discuss the issues of NXIVM,

with the intent to address
and confront Keith.

And that's when I found out

the board consisted
of all the women Keith
had been sleeping with.

♪ ♪

And there were nine
strong women who wanted
to confront him.

(all chattering)

It was like, "Oh, my gosh.
I'm in a cult."

Bouchey:
The nine of us, after 11 hours
with Keith, all resigned.

I shut my center down,

and I told the people I trusted,

and so, we wrote
our resignation letter...

asking for money that
we believed that was
owed to us.

Bouchey:
Some were owed commission,
some were owed trainer fees.

Dones:
I asked for the value of
what I believed my center was.

Bouchey:
Keith and Nancy personally
owed me $1.6 million.

And so, we wrote,

"If these requests are not met,

we are going to move forward
by contacting the press."

- (all applauding)
- Oh, thank you.

Please be seated.

Am I sitting... Okay.
I almost sat on the table.

(all laughing)

So, I'm here to give you a...

It's sort of a...
Well, it's a mixed thing.

Um...

I had a series of meetings.

Um, the meetings were
to give me feedback
on myself,

on the organization,
on a number of
different things.

And all the feedback's valid,
by the way.

Now, the long and
the short of it is,

I think there are a group
of people who are probably
going to leave our community.

It is believed, in this group,

that I have a group
of intimate relationships,

some sexual, some not,

and they say this intimacy
is a control strategy.

Well, clearly is.

I have to be able to trust 'em.

And there are things
that are secret.

I believe in strategic secret...

Especially when I believe
that there are people
with bad intent.

And I do believe that

a very, very small minority
in this group

may not be well-intentioned.

And in a specific case,

there is a personal issue
that I have with one of them.

And I've worked
to try to fix it,
worked to try to fix it,

to the best of my ability,
and I failed.

Where did it cross the line?

It crossed the line when
the executive board get a letter

and essentially the letter says,

"We want..."
It works out to two...
over two million dollars.

"Uh, and if you don't give us

"coming up this Thursday,
a certified check for
the two million dollars,

um, we're going to the press."

- This is extortion.
- (crowd murmuring)

So, we are filing
criminal charges.

It's already in process.
Um...

This is very difficult for me,
because these are people
I care about.

And people I've known
a very long time.

- (Raniere laughing)
- (group laughing)

Raniere:
In some ways it's a death.
In some ways it's a, a birth.

And in some ways, it's a relief.

I hate to say that.

But there... a physical relief.

I can divert, um,
my attention, my focus,

even my physical being,
to some other things now.

Bouchey:
I have a beautiful picture
in here of the two of them.

Let me find it.

That's Sara and Clare Bronfman.

2005,

Keith convinced me to become
their financial planner.

I left April 2009,

and then what happened is,
Clare Bronfman went to
the Saratoga D.A.,

to tell them that her
financial planner,
Barbara Bouchey,

had an ethical violation
with her and she fired her
because of it,

and that Barbara Bouchey,
in revenge and spite,

tried to extort
two million dollars from her
and blackmail her.

They used
the resignation letter.

Um, had a knock on my door.

And I was being served,
uh, legal documents

that said that Keith Raniere,
NXIVM, and the Bronfmans

were going to bring civil
and criminal charges
against me.

How did they take people
who should have known me,

and experienced me,
and how did they twist it?

-Man: Yeah, we're winning,
right?
-Raniere: No.

- Man: No?
- Man 2: Not yet.

- (horns honking)
- (siren blaring)

Oxenberg:
Thank you so much, Rick.

- Rick Ross: Okay.
- All right. Bye-bye.

Okay.

Oxenberg:
He is a cult expert,

and he knows Keith intimately,

because they kept him
in litigation for about
15 years.

He's been helping me all along.

- Hey, Rick.
- Ross: Hi.

So, this is Stanley.

- This is Rick Ross.
- Ross: Hi.

Oxenberg:
Stanley has been a friend
of mine since I was 18.

And India actually...

So she just texted me
for the first time

since the, uh,
"New York Times" article.

So, this is what she says.

"Mom, I love you,
but I don't agree with
your approach,

"publicly shaming me
and people I care for.

"That's not very considerate
of our private relationship.

"I've been cautious
about our communication,

"and don't think the people
you're working with

have your or mine
best interests."

Ross:
What that kind of verbiage,
to me,

it's like, it's all your fault.

NXIVM never does anything wrong.

Keith Raniere never does
anything wrong.

They never have
anything to address.

Oxenberg:
Well, this is what
I was going to say.

"You have every right
to be angry with me.

"In spite of that,
I hope you can understand
that I am coming from love.

I'm a mother afraid
for her daughter."

-Is there anything else
I should change?
-Ross: That, that's good.

And, and you can say,
"I respect your right
to make choices,

and I hope that you
can do the same for me."

Oxenberg: Mm-hmm.
Except that my choice
is to out her publicly.

How do I justify that?

-Ross: I think you
have to be careful.
-Okay.

-Because once you start
to get into an argument...
-Okay.

That there is probably somebody,

uh, coaching her on her text.

And this is the training.

So he determines
the parameters of reality.

And the women
that are the closest to him

who live in the Albany area,

are the most controlled people
in the entire group.

We don't want to admit
that that could happen
to someone we love,

but the human mind
is much more fragile

than we would like to believe.

We are all subject to
influence techniques.

Any anybody,
especially a woman,
that says,

"I'm done with you,
Keith Raniere,"

he doesn't like that.

And I've seen people who he's...

he's utterly destroyed
their life.

(siren blaring)

Newscaster:
A significant cultural event

for the Capital region.

The appearance of the
iconic spiritual leader,
the Dalai Lama.

The Tibetan Buddhist monk
who won a Nobel Peace Prize

and who has admirers
all over the globe
came to Albany today,

as a result of an invitation
from the World Ethical
Foundation,

which is founded by two sisters,

heiresses of the Seagram's
liquor corporation.

Bouchey:
Two weeks after I quit,

the Dalai Lama agreed
to tack on Albany

to his already 23-city tour.

And then they milked it.
I mean, it was all over
their website,

and articles went out,
and, you know, letters.

- (camera shutters clicking)
- (people chattering)

In the meantime,
behind the scenes,

my whole criminal case
was going on.

And the Bronfmans and Keith
had already networked locally

with many prominent law firms.

The name carried weight,

and I couldn't find an attorney.

Who do you think
wants to represent me?

Raniere:
Um, well, sometimes there are
some people that come

that seem to have bad intent.

But I, I never want
to believe that.

Um, at what point
do you take action definitively?

Oh.

Uh, that, that, uh...

- (all laughing)
- (Raniere speaking)

- Oh?
- (Raniere speaking)

Oh.

♪ ♪

Good.

(crowd applauding)

Bouchey:
And after that,

I have the actual NXIVM
announcement.

They announced proudly

that they were improving things

and they're gonna
change the board.

He took all the girlfriends off.

And then he put Clare Bronfman,

Emiliano Salinas,

and Mark Vicente on the board.

-That's what I'm talkin' about.
-Bouchey: They kind of
pulled Mark into the fold.

Edmondson:
The person who was
my field trainer originally,

and Mark's field trainer,
is no longer in the company.

(applauding)

Bouchey:
So now in the meantime,
they lost Seattle,

because of Susan Dones quitting.

And you had all those
people in Vancouver

that used to sometimes go down
to Seattle for some classes.

Bouchey:
So, Mark and Sarah,

Keith and Nancy
very strategically

took a stronger interest
in them.

Edmondson:
We're going down the stairs.

The front,
which has a reception.

This would be like a study hall.
White board.

Bouchey:
And they got to open
the center in Vancouver.

(applauding)

You could say from image,
to financial,

they got lots of benefits.

And as this went on, the
Bronfmans started accusing
me of more accusations.

I stole their money,
I misappropriated.

They were bombarding the court.

Dones:
They said that I had, you know,

done all of these crimes
against them.

And so I had to defend
all of those.

Bouchey:
I think there was 360
court filings filed

in that 10-month period of time.

Three hundred and sixty.

Dones:
And I couldn't work
during that time,

because I had to constantly
write motions

and go to hearings, and,
and that kind of stuff.

Bouchey:
I was broke.

I didn't have $20 in my pocket.

I was shuffling between
being able to buy food,

or pay my lawyers.

Dones:
I think it was, like, 2011,

myself and a couple other
people I know

talked to the, um,
New York State
Attorney General,

and we were asked to turn over
lots of documents to them.

And finally they said,
"Stop sending us stuff."

A nd we thought,
"Okay, they have enough
information."

Nothing ever happened.

Nothing ever happened.

And the attitude was,
"Well, you know, Miss Bouchey,

"like, aren't you and Keith
just bickering,
like in a bad divorce?

"And you know, really,
this is just probably
just a big fight.

We've got
bigger fish to fry."

I am terrified every time
the doorbell rings,

the phone rings,
every time I open up my email,

that it is another
voluminous filing.

Groups that litigate like this

can drag out these lawsuits
for years.

Hoping to exhaust you
and drain you,

and ultimately, to gag you.

It took me seven years
to pay off the $700,000
in legal debt.

And I finally was able to
move here and rebuild my life.

Bouchey:
In February 2014,

Kristin Keeffe quit NXIVM
and left.

And I was the first person
she called.

Great job.

Bouchey:
You weren't scared
to call me?

- (Keeffe speaking)
- Bouchey: Why?

(Keeffe speaking)

(playing dramatic piano piece)

Bouchey:
He could have been great.

There was so much potential.

And he did do a lot of
great, good things,

and did help thousands
of people, including me.

(playing Beethoven's
"Moonlight Sonata")

It's unfortunate that
his addictions and flaws

destroyed his own consciousness.

In that, I forgive him.

But I want to say to him,

"You belong in jail
for the rest of your life."

You know, I don't begrudge
anybody anything,

and I don't feel bitter.

I totally get how

each one of you,
at a young age...

(laughing)

was influenced.

(laughing)

Bouchey:
Mm-hmm.

(laughs)

(elevator bell dings)

Oxenberg:
We're headed to, uh, 30 Rock.

30 Rockefeller Plaza
to do the "Megyn Kelly Show."

Everything that I'm doing
right now is targeted

to, uh, pressure
the authorities to step...

To do the right thing.

My daughter, she said
I made her look
like a lunatic.

(producer speaking)

Sad. I mean, because...

I mean, this is the thing,
and this... I want to get
across on the show...

There are times in one's life
as a parent where...

my child's safety comes first.

And her safety is more important
than her liking me right now.

And that's a price
I have to pay.

And it's a big price,
as a parent.

(siren blaring)

Several of the women
went to the authorities,

and the authorities
dismissed their claims.

Megyn Kelly:
They said if a woman consents,
there's nothing they can do.

Well, I'd like to counter that,
because to me,

brainwashing is not consent.

Blackmail is not consent.

- (audience applauding)
- Kelly: So what do you do now?

Well, this is my last resort,
going to the media,

to bring awareness.
Because without awareness,
there can be no outrage.

And unless there's outrage,
the authorities are not gonna
step in

and do what they should do,
which is shut this down,

and stop this from happening.

♪ ♪

The fact that they had
all the pictures of us,

like, that was really hard.

I felt, I felt her.

(sobbing)

♪ ♪

(boat horn blares)

Edmondson:
Hi, Barb.

Okay. Big hugs.

- Okay. Okay. Bye.
- (Bouchey speaking)

(tapping on phone)

(exhales)

Okay.

Edmondson: In 2009,
when Barbara Bouchey left

and everybody left,
I got a promotion.

I believed the lies about them.

Edmondson: Yeah.

I mean, I'm a victim
in terms of I'm a victim
of a con.

But I definitely had
made choices.

I definitely have lots
of responsibility

in many bad things
that happened.

But it's not black and white.
You're not one or the other.

-Let's have a pillow fight.
-You wanna have
a pillow fight?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

(both laughing, giggling)

Get the pillows!
Get the pillows!

- Oh, no!
- Get the pillows!

Edmondson: I gotcha.
Oh, we're safe in here.

- (Troy babbles)
- We're safe.

-Woman (over computer):
Yay! Thank you.
-(laughing)

This is the wonderful

- and amazing goddess, India.
- (laughing)

India Oxenberg:
(laughing) Oh!

- (keyboard keys clicking)
- (computer dings)

Oh, my God,
it's the Attorney General!
Oh, my God.

I'm speechless. Holy shit!

One of the parents
of a girl who escaped

has been in touch with
the chief investigator

in Eric Schneiderman's office,

and he is ready to talk to me.

Oh, my God.
Oh, my God!

("Fight" by Mavis Staples
playing)

♪ Out on the streets
of Mary Sally old road ♪

♪ Can't get me out
unless you use a shoehorn ♪

♪ Eve of destruction
but you still talking
free trade ♪

-♪ You give me lemons
and I'll make lemonade ♪
-♪ So I pray ♪

♪ Though I'm tired ♪

♪ Well this can't wait ♪

♪ So we fight ♪

♪ They say you earn a penny
each one you save ♪

♪ Easy to save it
when you don't need
a dang thing ♪

♪ Freedom and justice well
they ain't your play thing ♪

♪ Prop up your puppets
and you kill the real kings ♪

♪ So I pray ♪

♪ Though I'm tired ♪

♪ So tired, well,
this can't wait ♪

♪ No, no ♪

♪ So we fight ♪

♪ We fight, fight the fight ♪

♪ We fight,
fight the fight... ♪

WOMAN: He was a business man
when I met him.

All of a sudden, we were
supposed to call him Vanguard.

And that was the turning point.

I started to feel uncomfortable

with things going on
with the company.

I thought, "I'm gonna breakup
with him,

and that's going to be
the end of the relationship."

It was just the beginning
of hell.

This is a criminal enterprise
masquerading as personal growth.

WOMAN 2: The chief investigator

and the attorney general
has reached out.

What we need is evidence
of criminality.

MAN: The more people that can
go on the record, the better.

♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪