Far-right author and self-proclaimed free speech advocate James Lindsay is livid after a photo resurfaced showing him with actress Nicki Clyne, who is best known as a member of NXIVM, the name commonly used to describe the sex cult headed by the imprisoned racketeer and sex offender Keith Raniere.
The photo was posted by the Twitter account for the documentary An Open Secret, which investigates accusations of teenagers being sexually abused within the film industry.
The film was a dream project for director Amy Berg, who also directed Deliver Us from Evil, a documentary about a Catholic priest who was relocated to various parishes around the United States in an attempt by the Catholic Church to cover up his rape of dozens of children.
The film's official Twitter account referred to Lindsay as "a coward and fraud," adding he had "immediately blocked" them "for politely suggesting research."
You can see the tweet and photo below.
The photo is especially embarrassing for Lindsay given he is credited as one of the leading voices popularizing the term "groomer" as a pejorative directed at the LGBTQ+ community by members of the political right.
As a result, Lindsay is largely responsible for the ongoing "groomer" hysteria accusing LGBTQ+ people of building relationships, trust and emotional connections with children so they can manipulate, exploit and abuse them.
His association with Clyne is undoubtedly hypocritical because NXIVM leader Raniere and his co-defendants comprised an organized racketeering enterprise by recruiting others into NXIVM and a "secret society" called "DOS" in which women were branded, made to record false confessions, and provide nude photographs for blackmail.
Investigators found that NXIVM leadership—which included Raniere and his second-in-command, the actress Allison Mack, who married Clyne—received financial and personal benefits and committed crimes ranging from sex trafficking to forced labor and visa and wire fraud.
After Raniere chose to go trial, prosecutors revealed a decades-long pattern of grooming, sexual abuse of girls and women, physical and psychological punishments against dissenters and hacking and vexatious litigation against enemies. Raniere was ultimately convicted.
A livid Lindsay has since lashed out at An Open Secret's Twitter account for noting he has communicated with Clyne hundreds of times on Twitter.
He has also openly mocked and ignored An Open Secret's request he meet with the film's producer to discuss his relationship with Clyne and NXIVM.
He also leveled the "groomer" slur at the Twitter account after he was called out for urging his followers to "ditch this scumbag site."
And in perhaps the biggest sign of his annoyance, he asked his followers to report the photo of him and Clyne as "spamming."
But that plea has only attracted more attention to the photo and Lindsay has been heavily mocked as a result.
Lindsay has continued to speak with Clyne and exchanged tweets with her as recently as this past weekend.
While Clyne has not commented on her relationship with Lindsay, she continues to defend NXIVM and its practices.
Since Raniere's conviction, she has used her official Twitter account to advocate on his behalf, at one point threatening to publicly identify Raniere's sex trafficking victims who were granted anonymity by court order.
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