Allison Mack, the former Smallville star who became one of the most recognizable figures tied to the NXIVM cult scandal, is speaking publicly for the first time since her release from prison last year.
Now 43, Mack gave a candid, emotional interview on the CBC podcast Allison After NXIVM, which premiered Monday. The podcast, part of CBC’s Uncover series, marks the first time she’s discussed her role in NXIVM and her experience in the years since her 2023 release from a California federal prison.
Mack spoke at length about the moment she was sentenced in 2021 for her involvement with NXIVM and its secretive subgroup known as DOS, where prosecutors said women were branded, coerced into sex, and manipulated under the direction of NXIVM founder Keith Raniere.
“Oh my God, my poor brother behind me, having to hear this about his sister,” Mack said, her voice breaking. “My poor mom. I’m so sorry, you guys. I can take it, but like… you guys, I’m so sorry. I don’t see myself as innocent, and they were.”
Mack said she vividly remembers the judge calling her “callous,” noting that she had “laughed at people’s pain and led people in negative directions.” She admitted that the assessment wasn’t wrong.
When asked whether she believed she capitalized on her fame as an actor during her time in NXIVM, Mack didn’t hesitate. “I think that I capitalized on the things I had,” she said. “And so the success I had as an actor—I think I did capitalize on that.”
She also acknowledged that she was “very effective in moving Keith’s vision forward,” referring to Raniere, who was convicted in 2019 of sex trafficking, racketeering, and fraud. Raniere is now serving a 120-year sentence.
Mack was arrested in 2018 and accused of recruiting women into NXIVM’s inner circle. At its height, the organization operated as a self-help network for professionals, but prosecutors said it functioned as a coercive “sexual pyramid scheme.”
Mack ultimately pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to three years in federal prison. She served her time at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California, before being released in 2023 under the First Step Act—a 2018 criminal justice reform law passed during Donald Trump’s presidency that allows certain federal inmates to earn time credits for good behavior.
Since her release, Mack has largely avoided the public eye. In 2020, she divorced actress Nicki Clyne, her Battlestar Galactica co-star and fellow NXIVM member. The marriage, according to former insiders, had been arranged at Raniere’s urging.
Earlier this year, TMZ reported that Mack quietly remarried a man named Frank, whom she met at a Los Angeles dog park after her release. The two reportedly became engaged around Christmas 2024.
