Dynasty star Catherine Oxenberg reveals desperate bid to rescue her daughter, 26, from brutal diet ‘cult’ Nxivm that brands women
Dynasty star Catherine Oxenberg claims a New York ‘cult‘ masquerading as a self-help group is BRANDING female members and has brainwashed her young daughter.
DYNASTY star Catherine Oxenberg claims a "cult" that BRANDS its members has brainwashed her young daughter.
Catherine, 56, says women members have sex with its 57-year-old leader and are forced to eat only 500-800 calories a day.
These women are allegedly being manipulated by leader Keith Raniere - known to followers as "Vanguard" - and even have his initials branded on their bodies.
The 1980s TV star told magazine that her daughter India, 26, threw herself into Raniere's self help group Nxivm after the pair attended a class in 2011.
Oxenberg said she found it "weird and creepy" almost immediately - but her daughter was hooked and poured her life savings and inheritance into its costly classes.
She has since been told by friend and former member Bonnie Piesse that India was recruited into a select "secret sisterhood" within Nxivm.
Piesse told her: "You need to save your daughter. You need to save India."
She explained: "India was in a bad situation. One time she told me that she wasn’t going to eat for three days (out of) penance to try and correct her behaviour."
After hearing these horror details, Oxenberg called her daughter and invited her to come home for her birthday.
When she arrived, she was super skinny, her hair was falling out and she hadn't had her period for a year - typical signs of malnutrition.
Despite her mum begging her to quit the group, she refused. She has cut off all contact with Oxenberg since.
A story published last week sparked a New York governor's office review of complaints against Mxivm.
In this story former member Sarah Edmondson described a horrific ordeal where she was branded with Raniere's initials.
She said the "initiation ceremony" took part in a house north of Albany, New York, where Raniere is based.
Sarah claimed she was undressed then told to lie on a massage table before instructed to state: "Master, please brand me, it would be an honour."
She said: "I wept the whole time. I disassociated out of my body."
Nxivm responded with a statement on its website calling it a "criminal product of criminal minds".
It stated: "The allegations relayed in the story are built upon sources, some of which are under criminal investigation or already indicted, who act as a coordinated group.
"This story might be a criminal product of criminal minds who, in the end, are also hurting the victims of the story.
"Unfortunately, this media outlet fell prey to these coordinated, criminal efforts. NXIVM was not able to participate in this story because it painfully held true to the due process of our free world justice system.
"We will explore any and all legal remedies to correct these lies."
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