Smallville alum Allison Mack is speaking publicly for the first time since her release from prison, opening up about her crimes and her years inside NXIVM in the debut episode of a new seven-part podcast, Allison After NXIVM. The 43-year-old actor details how she rose to become a top lieutenant within the upstate New York organization led by Keith Raniere, and why she says she’s now trying to reckon with the harm she caused.
Hosted by journalist Natalie Robehmed, the premiere episode finds Mack recounting the trajectory from TV fame to life inside the group, which prosecutors described as a sex-cult pyramid scheme that manipulated, coerced, and branded women. Mack’s conversation marks her first in-depth account since serving time in federal prison following her 2019 guilty plea.
Allison Mack Confronts Her Role In NXIVM
Mack does not shy away from acknowledging the damage. “I was not kind and I was aggressive and I was abusive,” she says in the podcast. “I was harsh and I was callous and I was aggressive and forceful in ways that were painful for people.” She later adds that she “abused my power,” while also admitting that part of her was “altruistic and was desperate to help people.”
According to prosecutors, Mack helped enforce NXIVM’s hierarchy and standards, leveraging what the group called “collateral” — including compromising material — to pressure members into compliance. During her trial, authorities said leaders used nude photos and other sensitive items to control recruits, per NBC News. On the podcast, Mack acknowledges she was “very effective in moving Keith’s vision forward.”
Her path into NXIVM began in 2006. Mack says she attended an introductory meeting with Smallville co-star Kristin Kreuk and soon embraced Raniere’s teachings. “I think that I capitalized on the things I had,” she explains, reflecting on how her TV notoriety helped recruit others. “And so the success I had as an actor, I think I did capitalize on that… it was a power tool that I had to get people to do what I wanted.”
As her involvement deepened, Mack says she moved closer to NXIVM’s Albany-area headquarters and gave up her acting career to serve the organization. She describes becoming one of several women who catered to Raniere’s demands, and says she engaged in coerced sex with him regularly. Prosecutors later dismantled the group and secured Raniere’s conviction on federal charges unrelated to Mack’s sentencing.
Sentencing, Accountability, And A Difficult First Episode
Mack pleaded guilty to charges including extortion and forced labor and was sentenced to three years in prison in July 2021. She was released early from a federal facility in California in July 2023. The podcast’s opening moments revisit her 2021 sentencing, where her family sat in the gallery. “Oh, my God, my poor brother behind me, having to hear this about his sister,” she says through tears. “My poor mom! I’m so sorry, you guys. I can take it, but like f–k, you guys, I’m so sorry. I don’t see myself as innocent, and they were.”
The episode threads personal reflection with a clear-eyed account of how manipulation operated inside NXIVM. Mack describes how she believed she was striving for self-improvement, even as she enforced harmful practices. “I wanted to be better,” she says. “I was willing to do anything to be better in myself and to help other people be better.”
Mack also unpacks the compromise of using her Smallville fame within the group. She frames that decision as part of a broader pattern of control and ambition that, in retrospect, she views as deeply misguided and abusive. While she takes responsibility for her actions, she also outlines the psychological isolation that fueled her ascent within NXIVM’s ranks.
Why Speak Now? Inside Allison After NXIVM
Allison After NXIVM is designed as a seven-part series, with Robehmed guiding Mack through key chapters of her story — from recruitment to leadership, prosecution, and life after prison. The host addresses concerns about offering Mack a platform, explaining that the project aims to interrogate culpability, accountability, and recovery directly with the person at the center of the case.
“Allison has not spoken publicly since her incarceration,” Robehmed notes in the episode. “She’s had lots of offers, but always said no — until now. She wants to tell her story in podcast form, because she loves podcasts, and because she’s no longer comfortable in front of cameras like she used to be.”
Since her release, Mack says she is trying to rebuild a life outside the glare of notoriety. She shares that she has gotten married and is pursuing a master’s degree in social work, describing those steps as part of an attempt to contribute positively and responsibly. The show indicates later episodes will continue to examine her offenses, the structure of NXIVM, and the ongoing impact on survivors.
NXIVM and its fallout have been widely covered in recent years, but Mack’s own voice has largely been absent since her sentencing. In offering detailed admissions and apologies, the actor positions the podcast as a record of accountability as much as an explanation. Whether audiences accept that framing will likely depend on how subsequent episodes address the full scope of harm — not just to Mack’s reputation, but to the people who lived with the consequences.
For now, Allison After NXIVM provides an unflinching first-person account backed by specific acknowledgments of abuse, coercion, and power. It’s a difficult listen by design, and one that sets a high bar for the honesty and responsibility its subject says she’s ready to shoulder.
