#SouthernCharm: Nanny’s Account Bolsters “Investigation”

Nanny Dawn is the second alleged victim of sexual assault at the hands of Thomas Ravenel, Bravo’s Southern Charm star. She was the caretaker of the Ravenel children before their nanny Deirdre was hired – Deirdre is who we see being let go this season. Dawn was the nanny we saw on screen during the first season of the show.

When it comes to financial settlements, the legalities and consequences get tricky (fair or unfair as it may be). Fortunately for Dawn however, there was no settlement or NDA signed, she refused severance pay and recently spent 5 hours talking to Charleston police.

I hope that Bravo and Haymaker’s announcement about an “investigation” was a solid claim. Southern Charm airs tonight and as the show goes on, the audience is left wondering. One cannot help speculating about whether their star’s egregious antics were unknown behind the scenes. I don’t have answers for you. What we do know is that Ravenel is a man who began this reality TV venture after serving prison time for a cocaine charge. For several years, there have been salacious blind items about his drug usage and sexual proclivities. I will state that allegations are allegations and we have yet to unearth which items are truths and which may be tabloid fodder.

When it comes to Southern Charm and its cast mates, how much can one cover up when they are trailed by cameras? The other question is of a more sinister nature: Was anything incriminating left on the cutting room floor or kept hush-hush behind closed production doors? Again, these are merely my own musings and I do not know the answers, but I’ve always viewed the show as both intriguing and problematic.

Southern Charm is popular for its “good ole boys” premise (and there are terrific female cast members to counteract the chauvinism), but in light of today’s rapidly progressing social climate, the show faces serious growing pains.

If it weren’t for the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, I’m not sure where we would be today with what has come to light.

Do you think Bravo and Haymaker will announce the results of this “investigation” soon?

What do you think will happen?

Please weigh in with your thoughts below.

Cults

#NXIVM: Victimized Children

The most perplexing aspect of the cult NXIVM, notorious in the media mainly for its sex trafficking subsidiary DOS, is that it’s been alleged that children have been victimized.

Aside from the recruiting of underage women for sexual slavery (and menial tasks around the clock), which of course is bad enough, it has been reported that the group runs daycare centers with controversial practices. I wrote about this briefly the other day, but it warrants a reiteration because of how grave the situation is.

The Rainbow Cultural Garden school chain was founded by NXIVM’s leader, the “Vanguard” Keith Raniere. He described his mission for these schools as “a revolutionary child development program promoting children’s cultural, linguistic, emotional, physical, and problem-solving potential.”

Further investigation into the chain revealed that unlicensed female teachers had been recruited so children would be immersed in 7 different languages simultaneously. Since the hours are considerably long and parents are forbidden from conversing with their tots while they’re exposed to the multilingualism, the kids end up babbling and not developing proper speech. They also end up having attachment issues and difficulty bonding.

Feds stormed in to one Miami center that was subsequently forced to close. I have checked out the links to other centers of this chain and the ones I clicked on now appear to be inactive.

Aside from the aforementioned questionable practices of these schools, it is alleged that these children were being indoctrinated for the NXIVM cult. Another suspicion that has been raised: perhaps some of these kids were exposed to frightening and gruesome videos for experimentation purposes. It has been reported that an MD subjected women to “fright studies” and questions abound about what their children may or may not have been exposed to. https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2018/05/05/nxivm-doctor-charged-with-conducting-human-experiments/amp/

See the Frank Report for more on Rainbow Cultural Garden.

#RHONY, Bravo TV

#RHONY: Countess Luann Doesn’t Hold Back in Interview with Reality of Reality Podcast

In a tantalizing interview with Aliza Rosen for the podcast Reality of Reality, Countess Luann De Lesseps, who lounged on a hotel bed wearing Chanel pearls and a red dress, was cool and not at all uncool.

She talked about making her falls a part of the dance (the basis for a new single she’ll be working on in collaboration with Jake Shears of The Scissor Sisters) and reflected on her past mistakes with candor. For more, see my recap on the website All About TRH. Here’s the link: http://www.allabouttrh.com/2018/05/16/the-countess-recounts-her-epic-falls-and-reveals-her-greatest-lover-plus-calls-adam-kenworthy-boring-and-a-user/.

Cults

#NXIVM: Frank Parlato is the Unsung Hero

I spoke with Frank Parlato yesterday. He was once hired as a publicist for NXIVM, which he then thought of as a company devoted to professional development and personal growth. Think of Maslow’s hierarchy for self-actualization and any conceptual ideology behind major pyramid schemes – It is interesting to note that NXIVM’s leader Keith Raniere was once in Amway. While working at NXIVM, Parlato would discover that the Seagram heiresses the Bronfman sisters (Clare and Sarah Bronfman), the group’s major financial backers, had lost a ton of money. Millions and millions of dollars

In time, Parlato would see Keith Raniere’s hand in this from behind the scenes. When Parlato left NXIVM, Raniere (who is notoriously litigious and known for exacting vengeance) wanted every penny that had been paid to Parlato returned. It was clear that the publicist had uncovered too many explosive behind-the-scenes-secrets and was now a “Suppressive Person” to NXIVM. Raniere had initially hired him to dispel the notion that NXIVM was a “cult” (and, Parlato would find out, exact vengeances on detractors), but Parlato could not deny that fact, one that would become indisputable to him over the years to come.

The Bronfman sisters and Keith would continually terrorize people who had left NXIVM through litigation – raising bogus claims about their detractors, but having the money to keep raging through high power attorneys. As you can imagine, Frank Parlato did not leave NXIVM unscathed in this regard.

Still, Parlato began blogging about NXIVM, determined to expose the nefarious cult and its egomaniacal leader, the “Vanguard” (as NXIVM members referred to Raniere). Through Parlato’s diligent investigations, he went on to confirm that the group had given rise to Keith’s harem and (the now famous) DOS division for sexual slavery.

It is Frank Parlato who brought NXIVM and DOS to the attention of the rest of the world.The New York Times took an interest in his revelations and shortly thereafter, extensive media coverage resulted.

Whenever you think you know all there is to know about NXIVM, there’s more. A HELL OF A LOT MORE. Parlato hears from former NXIVM members all of the time and has been responsible for getting hundreds of people out of the cult.

The stories may seem hard to believe, but in the coming weeks you will hear more about NXIVM as more arrests are expected. Be prepared for some shocking details.

The information that is already out there is a lot to wrap one’s mind around. There’s one physician who branded the DOS women with Keith Raniere’s initials and another who conducted perverse psychological experiments on women. There are daycare centers that separate parents from their kids for hours with the intent of immersing children in 7 different languages. While their offspring are working with language specialists, parents are forbidden from speaking to the children. Being part of NXIVM, these parents feel that Raniere is intellectually omniscient. They trust in his rationale on all things – science, medicine, pediatric development…The children end up with speech confusion (It has been reported that a mix of babbles in different languages characterizes their lexicon) and attachment issues.

It gets worse. There is a disappearance from several years ago that is tied to NXIVM, and there are suspicious circumstances surrounding some deaths (There is even a video in which Keith Raniere claims to have had people killed for NXIVM). Just when you think it could not possibly get more convoluted, it does.

According to Parlato’s website The Frank Report, now that both Raniere and Alison Mack are in captivity, Clare Bronfman has taken the reigns of the cult. The report goes on to state that she has informed members that DOS was Alison Mack’s brainchild and Keith Raniere did not know anything about it.

Anyone with half an unbrainwashed cranium can see that all roads lead back to cult leader Keith Raniere. But when you’re severely hypnotized and under the intense spell of a dangerous man’s mind control, it’s impossible to see things clearly….

So I’ve heard.

To get more details on all things NXIVM, check out: https://frankreport.com.

Here is a link to a podcast interview with Toni Natalie, a former girlfriend of Keith Raniere’s who also went into business with him in an earlier incarnation of NXIVM. She was terrorized by him for two decades after their breakup: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pink-shade-with-erin-martin/id1318549651?mt=2&i=1000411557595.

Cults

#NXIVM: Thinking of Catherine Oxenberg

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and I’m thinking about one mom who had a difficult day, not one that can be whimsically captured in snapshots of breakfast in bed with a cup of coffee, an omelet with a side of blissful, emotional fulfillment. For Catherine Oxenberg, it is an anxious period. The Dynasty actress has been intent on rescuing her daughter India Oxenberg from the cult NXIVM, but reports from Frank Parlato (of the Frank Report) indicate that India may be named as co-conspirator number 2 in the Keith Raniere-Allison Mack-NXIVM debacle.

Allison Mack was “number 1” in recruiting young women for the sexual slavery “DOS” division of NXIVM and it’s difficult to learn that young India could have been the one to report directly to her in those trafficking efforts. Hearing Catherine discuss how India was severely brainwashed by Raniere, had lost a ton of weight and the toll it had taken on her (the stopping of menses, hair loss and thinning), along with being physically branded in the pubic region, I cannot even imagine the mother’s added stress about her daughter potentially facing the legal system.

My thoughts and wishes for the best possible outcome here are with Catherine. She has proven to be a tenacious and stalwart advocate for rescuing her daughter. I hope she can be even stronger for whatever comes next.

Here is the latest Frank Report on India Oxenberg: https://frankreport.com/2018/05/13/leaked-screenshots-provide-evidence-india-oxenberg-is-co-conspirator-2/