The Orgasm Cult

8. Is One Taste a Cult?

This podcast is now the subject of a legal complaint by Nicole Daedone, Rachel Cherwitz, OneTaste Incorporated, the Institute of OM LLC and OM IP Co. Even from the early days of One Taste, discussion swirled around whether the company was a cult.Co-founder Nicole Daedone even had a tank top which said “cult” on it in big white letters, and staff were briefed on how to respond to questions from outsiders on the subject.After everything we’ve learned so far about One Taste, in this episode we speak to cult expert Steve Hassan, author of “Combatting Cult Mind Control”, about what makes a cult – and whether he thinks the term applies to One Taste.Plus, wellness expert André Spicer tells us how to recognise red flags that an organisation could be a cult, and what makes people vulnerable to joining them in the first place.If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised in this programme, help and advice are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.Presenter: Nastaran Tavakoli-Far
Producer: Lucy Burns
Editor: Penny Murphy

This podcast is now the subject of a legal complaint by Nicole Daedone, Rachel Cherwitz, OneTaste Incorporated, the Institute of OM LLC and OM IP Co.In the search for wellness, how far would you go?Nicole Daedone, the charismatic co-founder of wellness company One Taste believed that orgasm would one day sit alongside yoga and meditation as the self-care practice for the modern empowered women. Except that now the FBI is making enquiries in to One Taste over allegations including sex trafficking, prostitution and violations of labour law.How did Orgasmic Meditation go from hippy beginnings to a sleek, million-dollar operation? How did this wellness practise – touted as the next big thing everywhere from Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop to the New York Times – lead to isolation, debt and abuse?Why is women’s health and pain still not taken seriously by conventional medicine? The Orgasm Cult is a story about people desperate for connection and how far they would go to find it. Join Nastaran Tavakoli-Far as she investigates One Taste through exclusive interviews with former employees and asks big questions about the wellness industry.