Smallville star Allison Mack breaks silence after being released from jail over role in 'sex cult'

Smallville actress Allison Mack has spoken out for the first time since she was released from jail over her role in the NXIVM "sex cult."

Mack, 43, spoke candidly on the new podcast Allison After NXIVM produced by CBC's Uncover.

She recalled what was going through her head the day she was sentenced in New York city in 2021.

Watch the video above.

"Oh, my God, my poor brother behind me, having to hear this about his sister. My poor mum," she said on the podcast.

"I'm so sorry, you guys. I can take it, but like f---, you guys, I'm so sorry. I don't see myself as innocent, and they were."

The former actress recalled hearing the judge say she was "callous" for having "laughed at people's pain and led people in negative directions."

She also admitted she knowingly capitalised on her fame amid her involvement with NXIVM.

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"I think that I capitalised on the things I had, and so the success I had as an actor, I think I did capitalise on that," she said.

She added she was "very effective in moving Keith's vision forward", referring to NXIVM's co-founder Keith Raniere, when asked if she felt she was an accomplice.

The actress, who was best known for her role on Smallville as Chloe Sullivan, was arrested in 2018 over accusations she recruited sex slaves for Raniere, the co-founder of the so-called "self-help group".

NXIVM had a secret subgroup called DOS, which has been described as an all-female society in which women were forced to be sexually subservient to Raniere.

Mack was sentenced to three years in jail after pleading guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges, as she was Raniere's top lieutenant, who would coerce women into sleeping with him.

The actress served two out of three years of her sentence before she was released for good behaviour.

Raniere was convicted for his involvement in NXIVM in 2019. Authorities called the organisation a "sexual pyramid scheme."

The women coerced by Mack would sleep with Raniere, and also had been branded with his initial using a hot iron.

They were also made to record false confessions, send nude pictures and hand over "collateral" for blackmailing purposes.

NXIVM was founded by Raniere in 1998 as a personal growth coaching business.

It charged over $3000 a session for personal coaching and life advice, including things like hypnotherapy.

It drew the attention of wealthy people who would pay thousands for these courses.

The women affected described Mack as Raniere's right-hand woman and the main recruiter of sex slaves for him.

An expose by the New York Times into the sex cult sparked investigations by the FBI, leading to the arrests.

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