{"id":302734,"date":"2025-11-20T07:12:18","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T07:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/302734\/"},"modified":"2025-11-20T07:12:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T07:12:18","slug":"allison-mack-reunites-with-smallvilles-michael-rosenbaum-talks-nxivm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/302734\/","title":{"rendered":"Allison Mack Reunites With Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum, Talks NXIVM"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAllison Mack<\/a> is sharing more of her story. In a new episode of the \u201cInside of You<\/a>\u201d podcast, Mack reunited with \u201cSmallville<\/a>\u201d co-star Michael Rosenbaum<\/a> to explain what happened following her arrest and prison time for her part in the NXIVM cult and enabling leader Keith Raniere. <\/p>\n

\n\tMack, who told her full story for the first time<\/a> on CBC podcast \u201cAllison After NXIVM<\/a>,\u201d spoke openly with Rosenbaum; the two have known each other since 2001 as they both starred as Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor, respectively, in The WB (then The CW) drama. But during the interview, they didn\u2019t speak about the show; instead, they detailed her 12 years in the NXIVM cult \u2014\u00a0and when things began to go south.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cStuff didn\u2019t start to get really dysfunctional and illegal until the eighth or ninth year that I was involved,\u201d she told Rosenbaum. \u201cIt was a very stereotypical, now that I look back at it, grooming process that happened over a period of time\u2026 it was a different form of an abusive relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut during her time, even when people began leaving, \u201cthere was always a justification\u201d or an excuse that she was told, so she ignored things that were clear red flags. \u201cIt\u2019s this insidious little community where everybody stays connected to each other, and everybody\u2019s reinforcing the belief system that everybody has. And then you get in so deep.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAllison Mack, Michael Rosenbaum and Kristen Kreuk<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u00a9Warner Bros\/Courtesy Everett Collection<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter her 2018 arrest, Mack was placed on house arrest for three years, traveling back and forth to New York to participate in dozens of interviews with prosecutors and police. \u201cIt was walking through the gates of hell. It was horrible,\u201d she said of the interviews. \u201cIt was difficult because I was still trying to figure out what happened\u2026 I just felt crazy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe leaned very much on her mom, sister and a few close friends during this time, because \u201c90 percent of the people in my life stopped communicating with me,\u201d Mack said. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe actress also had \u201cmoments of suicidal ideation,\u201d she said. The first was when she was hiding in Mexico after Raniere\u2019s arrest, staying alone in a penthouse apartment for two weeks. \u201cI went out on the balcony and thought, \u2018I could jump and this could be over.\u2019 But then I wouldn\u2019t know what happens next, and I want to know what happens next. And it will be different tomorrow, I need to just hang on through this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe next was during house arrest, trying to come to terms with what she\u2019d done, work with the police, navigate the paparazzi and wonder whether she would be convicted of a sex crime. \u201cAll of these realities were so heavy and dark and painful,\u201d she said. \u201cI would have moments where I felt like, I don\u2019t know that I can carry this anymore. And then I\u2019d think, \u2018If I kill myself, I\u2019m gonna hurt my mom so bad. I can\u2019t do that.\u2019 So I didn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMack stated that she\u2019s not allowed to speak to any of the people involved in NXIVM, but everyone on trial received a letter from Raniere before the trial began. \u201cI did not read it,\u201d she said, adding that she doesn\u2019t know what it says. \u201cI\u2019m not yet at a place where I\u2019ve forgiven him because I haven\u2019t fully comprehended what he did. I\u2019m still working on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe added, \u201cIt\u2019s a really complicated thing to be both a victim and a perpetrator. I think I\u2019m still working through that, and I think my feelings around Keith are enmeshed in all of that as well. He\u2019s an evil man. And it\u2019s good that he\u2019s not around.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAllison Mack arrives at the United States Eastern District Court in 2018.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEverett Collection<\/p>\n

\n\tShe also discussed how unwell she was during her time in the cult, but knows that what she did was wrong.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI so deeply believed that what I was doing was righteous and good and powerful and transformational and profound. I was living on 500 calories a day. I was running 5 to 6 miles every morning because that\u2019s what Keith wanted,\u201d she said, \u201cI was so sick. But I didn\u2019t feel any of it because the fanaticism was so present.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tRosenbaum noted that he knows she\u2019s not doing many interviews, thanking her for coming on the \u201cInside of You\u201d podcast. \u201cIt meant a lot when you reached out. You were one of the first people from my old life that reached out,\u201d That\u2019s the only reason I\u2019m here,\u201d she said before tearing up. \u201cIt meant more than you could know that you have been kind. I think that just speaks to your character.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Allison Mack is sharing more of her story. In a new episode of the \u201cInside of You\u201d podcast,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[149788,88,157392,149789],"class_list":["post-302734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-allison-mack","tag-entertainment","tag-michael-rosenbaum","tag-smallville"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}