What a Creep: Keith Raniere (NXIVM)
Season 8, Episode 9
Rapist, Liar, and Cult Creep
Keith Raniere made national news in the fall of 2017 when the New York Times exposed the self-help guru as a megalomaniac, a fraud, a user of women, and a person who allowed (if not blatantly enforced) a secret society of women in his NXIVM group to have sex rituals and human branding to show his loyalty to him.
He claims to have one of the highest IQs ever recorded, to have been a judo expert at the age of 12.
By thirteen, he taught himself three years of college math.
That he can cure anyone from crippling things like smoking addiction to Tourette Syndrome. He told women if they had sex with him—they would see a blue light of magic in their heads.
He called himself “Vanguard” and created a self-help program called NXIVM which for thousands of dollars—could help men and women be their true selves and achieve enlightenment.
His office in Albany, NY had a retreat every year at the end of August called “Vanguard Week” where his most devoted followers from around the world would praise him.
Some of his followers included the wealthy & elite from politics, entertainment, and being lucky enough to grow up wealthy with no boundaries on your trust fund.
He is also a total fucking creep who scammed people out of their money, dignity, and youth. He is a pedophile and a fucking asshole of the highest order.
Trigger Warnings for this episode: scam artists, sexual assault, cults, pedophilia, and shitty human behavior unchecked.
Sources:
New York Times October 17, 2017
“Escaping NXIVM podcast/CBC”
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