The Binge Cases: Denise Didn't Come Home - A New Investigation: The Last Days of the NXIVM Sex Cult

Episode Date: January 5, 2023

Behind every infamous news story is a journalist trying to hold power to account. Join reporters Vanessa Grigoriadis and Gabriel Sherman as they take an in-depth look at the most explosive scandals of this century. From high-profile divorces to sex cults to the lies that started a war, they’ll guide you through the juiciest, most outrageous, celeb-filled stories of the last two decades, and give you a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to shine an unflattering light on the world’s most powerful people. A Campside Media & Sony Music Entertainment production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm Vanessa Gregoriotis, and I want to tell you about my new podcast, Infamous, which takes you inside all sorts of weird stories, from the knife-wielding world of New York high fashion, to corrupt political operatives in Washington, to a sex cult on the lam. That particular story is about the time I went to Guadalajara, Mexico, to interview Keith Raniere, the leader of a cult called NXIVM. This cult branded women's bodies, created a system of sex slaves, and had famous actresses as members. This meeting in Mexico that you'll hear about was just weeks before Keith would be indicted for sex trafficking, racketeering, and conspiracy. But we didn't know that at the time. Keith burst forth from the bedroom.

He was short and stout and full of energy. Can we record at the same time? Yeah, you can record it. He had a ruddy face and a pair of Coke bottle glasses on that sort of concealed large blue eyes. The first thing I thought was, really, is this it? One of the reasons why I haven't spoken in the past and now it's how I am.

Is it right to try to win in a court of public opinion when it's dishonorable. I was always impressed, you know, if you study some of the people like the Gandhis of the world, they do these actions that have a wonderful aspect that if they're wrong, it's not damaging, it's illustrative. But I had a more pressing question. So are you in Mexico because you think there might be an indictment in New York? And what if there is? No, I haven't been subpoenaed or anything. No, I am not.

I didn't come to Mexico for that reason. But with all of the hate going on and there are people who are scared for me to be back in my neighborhood. And, you know, our lawyers and consultants say you probably better off just stay still. I mean are you worried about there being an indictment? Are you worried about that happening? If you had asked me that a year ago or six months ago I would have said it's not a concern because there's nothing wrong. We came here because we're going to spend Christmas. We're finding a place to go where we can go and spend Christmas. It's like a beach house, hopefully. At this point, I wondered, who was we? I also wondered about

exactly how this was being funded. I don't pay taxes because I live under the poverty level. But I live a really simple life. Keith didn't keep any money in his name. Maybe Keith just didn't want to have any assets. Would you want to buy your Lacoste shirt? I didn't buy this. I don't even know where it came from. No, quite honestly. As a matter of fact, until I put this on this morning, I don't think I've worn it before. I didn't know about it.

It was a lot from a guy I had now researched. His mom died early. He was a science guy. Back in 1990, Keith started a multi-level marketing company. It was called Consumers Byline. They recruited members and offered discounts on things like groceries and appliances. His idea is to arrange for you to combine your purchasing power, everything you buy, with millions of other Americans into one big purchasing family to give us all some clout when it comes to getting a better price. His name is Keith Ranieri.

His idea is called Consumer's Byline. And I'd like you to meet this impressive young man. Keith, happy to see you again. Yes, happy to see you too. It's an amazing idea. Yes, well, sometimes it even amazes me. Since I was finally sitting down with him in his crazy Mexican hideout, I really did need to ask him about DOS, that master slave group that NXIVM members were calling the

sorority. Let's talk about the sorority for a little while. I mean, did you know about it? Did you not know about it? Was it a, I knew some, I mean, some of those people I've been close with in some cases, decades. So I knew some things about it. I'm just saying the bind that you're in is that people think the sorority was kind of like, uh, you're hunting round or something. And that's not only, not only have I never had a sex slave, I wouldn't want one.

And I suspect with the money that I've had in my life, I don't know, a million dollars can buy you a lot of fancy sex if you wanted it. I asked him if he was polyamorous. So are you polyamorous with different women who are in polyamory? In polyamory, people have multiple romantic and often sexual relationships at once, and everyone is consenting. It's quite different from polygamy, which is about having more than one wife or rarely husband at a time, and in a way that not everyone involved might be happy about. So was polyamory what was going on here? I'm not a fun person to have a sexual relationship with. If I meet you and we have a type of connection, intimacy, first there's the talk. I ask you and I talk to you about are

you interested potentially in that? Is that how you feel? I feel this way, I feel that way, etc, etc. So they agree to a type of one-sided monogamy for a certain amount of time. Wait, so just to be clear, Keith is saying he requires his polyamorous partners to only sleep with him in a kind of one-sided monogamy, while he gets to sleep with multiple people. Now, that is really not how polyamorous relationships are supposed to work. In fact, it doesn't sound like polyamory at all. It sounds like a harem. Listen to Infamous wherever you get your podcasts.