Keith Raniere duped followers that power and growth came through submission
Much fiction, from Pride and Prejudice to The Talented Mr. Ripley, focuses on the male con man— the lothario who engages with the aspirations of beautiful, intelligent, and often wealthy women, enticing them to relinquish their bodies and fortunes. Keith Raniere, the 58-year-old leader of Nxivm, a cult-like organization based for decades near Albany, New York, was one such man, though an unlikely Don Juan. He was a former IT guy who founded a pyramid-scheme like grocery business in the 1980s, then hawked vitamins, and, some 15 years later, transformed into the guru to heiresses, actresses, and general deep-pocketed enlightenment seekers. But the guru thing was merely instrumental, a means to an end. In secret, he was enacting a jaw-droppingly bizarre sex scheme for his own pleasure, intertwining themes of madness, pain, and love like a story by Edgar Allan Poe.
On June 19, Raniere was convicted of sex trafficking, among other charges, in the modern New York City courthouse where cartel lord El Chapo recently lost his case. Raniere has a ruddy face, with large blue eyes concealed by Coke-bottle glasses; though he used to be partial to casual clothes and athletic gear, in court, the collar of a white dress shirt poked above a monochromatic sweater.
The best way to describe Raniere is a nerd Charles Manson, though Raniere didn’t use acid to get people to believe (or instruct them to butcher victims); his flock was stone-cold sober, and his tricks mixed those of a pickup artist, like negging, with the vernacular of many a modern lifestyle business. Just as Manson capitalized on the imperfections of the free love movement, Raniere enticed women into believing he could take the 2010s empowerment smorgasbord—wellness, activism, feminism—to its highest, purest level. Those who followed him, he insisted, would become stronger, emotionally and physically, or, as some of them called themselves, “badass.”
This story is from the September 2019 edition of Vanity Fair.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2019 edition of Vanity Fair.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
DEATH & THE MASQUE
In Hollywood in 1977, punk rock was exploding and a small band of scene-makers were flourishing in a dingy basement club. Little did they know a pair of serial killers would soon claim one of their own
PLAY MATES
Her parents didn't exactly gel with the other families at school, so she spent the first 10 years of her life going to the Playboy Mansion with her nanny. Writer-director LORRAINE NICHOLSON looks back on a childhood spent swimming in the infamous grotto with her eyes open-long before she knew what sex, let alone a sex cave, even was
FEAR ANDING IN RIYADH
What could a movie star and Saudi Arabia's all-powerful ruler possibly have in common? Plenty, as it turns out. Behold, the stranger-thanfiction story of how Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman welcomed Johnny Depp into his kingdom and his circle of trust
DEEP STATE
IN SECRET UNDERSEA LOCATIONS, AMERICA'S FLEET OF NUCLEAR SUBMARINES SILENTLY PREPARES FOR THE NEXT SUPERPOWER CONFLICT. GAINING UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS TO THESE RARELY GLIMPSED VESSELS AND THEIR COMMANDERS, VANITY FAIR REPORTS ON THE LINCHPIN OF THE NATION'S STRATEGIC ARSENAL
STEALING SUNSET
After. waking up to an intruder in the bedroom one night, writer PUNCH HUTTON no longer felt safe in her family’s dream home. When they decided to sell; the most prolific thief in Hollywood history saw a golden opportunity
THE Power & THE Glamour - A HOLLYWOOF PORTFOLIO
As the strike dust settles and America reacquaints itself with the box office (thank you, Barbenheimer), VANITY FAIR spotlights LA's most influential characters, the players keeping the town running
When the STARS ALIGN
For our 30th ANNUAL HOLLYWOOD ISSUE, we tapped 11 stars making the most of a transformative era by taking chances and taking charge. Here's a peek at what happens when some of the industry's most vibrant talents let loose
AI STAR Is Born
How artificial intelligence is already changing filmmaking
Netflix Can CHILL
Two years after a stock crash that destabilized the industry and inspired endless schadenfreude, the streamer’s reputation—and finances—have bounced back
The One-Body Problem
Bryan Johnson has spent millions on his twin quests for eternal life and a younger penis. And that's just the stuff you've read about. Other aspects of his mortal life tell a tale far more strange