HBO’s The Vow dives deep into the history of NXIVM and its former members, consisting of creator Keith Raniere’s ex-girlfriend, Barbara Bouchey. Bouchey first fulfilled Raniere in the springtime of 2000 through her buddy and also former specialist, Nancy Salzman.
Bouchey– who was functioning as a financial organizer– was undergoing a divorce at the time, so Salzman motivated her to sign up with the “self-help team,” where she was presented to Raniere. “Keith was an extremely vibrant individual,” Bouchey claimed in a 2018 meeting with Megyn Kelly.
“He was very soft-spoken, very taking part in dialogues. He was amusing, he was amusing, he can play the piano.”
A couple of months later, a charming connection formed between Bouchey and Raniere, and the two began dating. “Dating Keith Raniere did not look like going to supper or a weekend at the beach. Keith really did not do those type of social points,” she discussed. “My observation of exactly how it aimed to other people was I was his soulmate, his buddy, and his considerable partner.”
“I was his soulmate, his friend, and also his considerable partner.”
Even though Bouchey initially believed she and Raniere remained in a fully commited partnership, she later on found out that he was included with 12 other females from the company. “I really did not recognize for a year that there was anybody else he was involved with,” Bouchey said. “I and also other individuals reached see the glimmers of this dark side of Keith and also the misuse within his inner circle that began to flow down.”
By 2009, Bouchey determined to damage points off with Raniere and leave NXIVM forever. “I offered it the Girl Scout attempt, I really did,” Bouchey stated. After getting away the cult, Bouchey then located herself being bugged by Raniere’s followers as well as ultimately became a whistleblower, among the “NXIVM Nine,” who faced Raniere regarding the abuse in the team and also alerted authorities. Raniere is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he is waiting for sentencing for sentences of racketeering, sex trafficking, and forced labor conspiracy theory.