NXIVM Sex Cult is Actively Recruiting Through Influencers like Clementine Morrigan and Seerut K. Chawla

Caitie Gutierrez
8 min readJun 12, 2021
NXIVM cult leader Nicki Clyne follows Clementine Morrigan on Instagram.

NXIVM cult leader Nicki Clyne has publicly endorsed Clementine Morrigan, an influencer from Montreal, and Seerut K. Chawla, a licensed psychotherapist in London who is a member of Heterodox Academy — a group of 5,000+ professors, administrators, K-12 educators, staff & students who believe “diverse viewpoints and open inquiry are critical to research and learning.” Heterodox Academy is influencing anti-cancel culture discourse across social media.

According to Vox, Heterodox Academy advances conversative viewpoints on college campuses by playing into or presenting the argument that their views are suppressed by left-wing bias or political correctness. Heterodox Academy is being speculated as a re-branding of Campus Reform — a website funded by the right-wing Leadership Institute, which is funded by the Koch family.

Seerut regularly pushes the work of Clementine Morrigan, Jay Manicom-Marquis (LeSoleil), Dr. Christine Marie Katas, and many other public figures and influencers who are connected to the NXIVM Cult.

The Anti-Cancel Culture Cult has been priming survivors of abuse to accept defanged versions of our movements by targeting people through topics like consent, prison abolition, complex trauma, identity politics, critical race theory, Black history, and Black feminist theory.

Nicki Clyne is involved with a NXIVM-connected activist group that has gone by the names “The Forgotten Ones” and “We Are As You.” The group, which formed in July 2020, professes to have a goal of achieving prison reform in connections with Black Lives Matter, but in reality their sole interest appears to be bringing attention to what they believe is the wrongful imprisonment of NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere. Raniere is currently sentenced to 120 years in jail for child pornography, sex trafficking, and conspiracy. He is also being investigated in the deaths of four of his previous partners. Nicki Clyne is reportedly still heavily involved with NXIVM and may even be running it in Raniere’s absence. You can see her defending Keith in this video that was released on June 3, 2021.

Clementine Morrigan has taken Montreal and the cancel culture discourse by storm on Instagram with their refusal to participate in what they call “The Nexus.” The Nexus is what Clementine and her partner Jay Manicon-Marquies (LeSoleil) calls the phenomenon of survivors asking for accountability from our abusers — or “cancel culture.” Last year, during one of the largest global uprisings after the police murder of George Floyd, Clementine released a zine titled “Fuck the Police Means We Don’t Act Like Cops to Each Other” — comparing a culture created by Black activists fighting against the prison industrial complex to the very system that oppresses them on a global scale. This sentiment reeks of anti-Blackness.

One of Clementine’s main arguments against cancel culture is that it causes symptoms similar to Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, something many survivors of abuse experience. She backs this up by often citing a dissertation by Dr. Christine Marie titled “The Traumatic Impact of Media Humiliation, Misrepresentation and Victim-Shaming on Narrative Identity and Well-Being.

Publicly facing, Dr. Christine Marie claims to have helped many women escape cult-like religions such as the FLDS. According to Dr. Christine Marie, her specialties include: Media, PR, Online Content, Branding, Transmedia Storytelling, Media Psychology, Positive Psychology, Trauma, Human Trafficking, and Women’s Issues. Her business website states that she works on Personal Branding or Image Repair — and even focuses on “Cancel Culture & Call-Outs.” It is stated on Prabook that Dr. Christine’s political party is Republican.

From Keith Raniere’s Wikipedia page:

Dr. Christine Marie was hired to write marketing materials for Keith Raniere’s National Health Network and later for Executive Success Programs, which would ultimately become NXIVM.

Follow Caitie on TikTok & Instagram.

***Update August 22, 2023: Ongoing Harassment and Urgent Insights***

Amplifying the Harassment: An Unsettling Reality

Since writing this article, I have endured extreme online harassment from Clementine’s cult following. Clementine’s partner Jay and an account falsely portraying themselves as a healthcare worker, @the.wellness.therapist, have both armchair diagnosed me as schizophrenic and paranoid, despite receiving ongoing mental healthcare from qualified professionals for PTSD stemming from the ongoing cyberstalking and harassment. Both Jay and “Azadeh” have also accused me of faking my Indigeneity. The cult has a distinct pattern of targeting reconnecting Indigenous people.

Jay Marquis-Manicom “Lesoleil” (@cursed_cancellations) and “Azadeh Ghafari” claiming that I am schizophrenic and experiencing psychosis, a tactic commonly used to silence survivors of abuse.
Jay Marquis-Manicom “Lesoleil” (@cursed_cancellations)’s response to me updating this article. 28/08/2023 & 09/09/2023.

Clementine’s Eery Admission of Tactics

Clementine has written in one of her Substack articles titled “You Don’t Have to Like Them but You Have to Love Them,” about the ease of employing calculated actions to harm others. She contemplates using burner accounts to spread slander and rumors, alluding to the ability to exact revenge on individuals. Astonishingly, this exact strategy has been carried out against me since naming her connection to the NXIVM cult. Here are the documented instances and a map of some of the cult members who have employed these harassment tactics against me (viewable on desktop only).

Excerpt’s from Clementine Morrigan’s substack article “You Don’t Have to Like Them but You Have to Love Themwhere she admits to revenge fantasties that eerily mirror the exact type of harassment I’ve experienced since pointing our her connections to the NXIVM cult over 2 years ago.

The Grim Trail of Evidence

The harassment campaigns I have endured are documented with alarming evidence. This ranges from the utilisation of multiple burner accounts adorned with blackface, to the creation of entire profiles dedicated to doxxing my Indigenous family and coercing me into suicidal thoughts. In this disturbing context, a crucial question surfaces: If Clementine stands by her principles, why does she not intervene as her cult following systematically harasses me? Moreover, the uncanny colour similarity between the profile picture of @the.wellness.therapist and the original Concordia University account @douconsideryourselfafeminist (along with similar behaviour and writing style) raises suspicions, considering the connection between Jay and @douconsideryourselfafeminist is what inspired me to dig deeper in the first place. Dr. Christine Marie also happens to use the same colour for her logos on Facebook and her website.

Post about @douconsideryourselfafeminist with the colour of their profile photo next to a photo of @the.wellness.therapist’s instagram account. The profile photos are the exact same colour.
Dr. Christine Marie also uses this colour on her Facebook page and website logo.

Unraveling Disturbing Connections: A Distinct Pattern

As further pieces fall into place, a disconcerting connection emerges: Jay Marquis-Manicom and the Instagram account @douconsideryourselfafeminist (“Sarah” from Montreal) are linked to the same Concordia University cohort. This revelation aligns eerily with the roots of “whistleblower” and Concordia alumni Sarah Edmonson, known for recruiting young women into the NXIVM cult, Concordia-based project Queering the Map which documents the experiences and locations of LGBTQIA+ people across the globe, and Marc-Andre Argentino who coined the term/tactic Pastel QAnon at Concordia. Additionally, my investigation reveals Clementine’s reliance on a dissertation authored by NXIVM’s marketing expert, Dr. Christine Marie, to substantiate her arguments against cancel culture. Clemetine regularly offers “Anti-Oppression & Pro-Solidarity training” at Concordia. The intricate connections continue to multiply.

Jay Marquis-Manicom and @douconsideryourselfafeminist, an account similar to @the.wellness.therapist, are linked to the same Concordia University cohort.
NXIVM “whistleblower” Sarah Edmonson, known for recruiting multiple young women into NXIVM, graduated from Concordia University.
Both “Queering the Map” and “Pastel QAnon” can be traced back to Concordia University.
Dr. Christine Marie, who Clementine Morrigan and Jay Marquis-Manicom “Lesoleil” work closely with, was hired to write NXIVM’s marketing materials.
Clementine Morrigan regularly offers training at Concordia University.

A Complex Web of Manipulation: Azadeh Ghafari @the.wellness.therapist

@the.wellness.therapist claims to be Iranian psychotherapist, social worker, & researcher Azadeh Ghafari. She claims to work for UCLA Health and is featured in multiple books, articles, and podcasts about NXIVM, cults, conspiricies, and the alt-right. However, I was notified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that Azadeh Ghafari is not a public entity providing health and social services as she claims. I was also informed by UCLA that she is not employed there as she claims.

Letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights stating that Azadeh Ghafari is not a public entity providing health and social services.
E-mail from UCLA Staff Diversity and EEO Compliance Office stating that Azadeh Ghafari does not work for UCLA.

Unveiling Disturbing Agendas: Shielding Abusers

Beyond the realm of harassment and manipulation, a stark reality emerges: Clementine Morrigan’s actions serve as a diversion, shielding celebrities and powerful individuals who seek to evade accountability for their racism, ableism, and sexual abuse. This sinister tactic aims to silence marginalised voices, preventing them from voicing complaints against these wrongdoings.

Challenging the Manipulative Strategy

By delving into the intricate layers of manipulation, it becomes clear that these actions are not isolated incidents. They form part of a broader strategy aimed at protecting the interests of those who perpetuate racism, ableism, and abuse. The urgency to continue questioning, probing, and advocating for accountability remains undiminished.

As this unsettling journey unfolds, it’s imperative to remain vigilant against attempts to manipulate narratives and divert attention from crucial issues. By exposing the truth behind these calculated tactics, we stand a chance to disrupt the cycle of abuse and exploitation that threatens to persist unchecked.

Clementine Morrigan donning a forget-me-not tattoo right where her swastika should be. In 1938, a forget-me-not badge was chosen for the annual Nazi Party Winterhilfswerk, the annual charity drive of the National Socialist People’s Welfare, the welfare branch of the Nazi party.

--

--

Caitie Gutierrez

Mental Health Consumer Advocate | Peer Support Worker | Writer | Survivor | Bisexual & Biracial Biawasia (Two-Spirit) Boricua (Puerto Rican) Taíno 🪶🧿🍀