Allison Mack: Smallville actor allegedly tried to recruit Emma Watson to 'sex cult'

Smallville actor Allison Mack is said to have contacted Emma Watson and Kelly Clarkson to try to interest them in joining an alleged sex slavery cult.

Mack, best known for her role in the US TV show based on the DC Comics character Superman, has been charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy.

The 35-year-old has been accused of recruiting women as sex slaves as part of a secret society which portrayed itself as a self-help group.

She was also accused of occupying a senior role in the Nxvim group run by Keith Raniere, 57, who also faces charges after being arrested last month and charged with sex trafficking.

Mack was arrested on Friday and has since pleaded not guilty to all charges.

Tweets written to Watson in 2016 and to Clarkson in 2013 have now been unearthed.

Mack contacted the Harry Potter actor about an “amazing women’s movement” about which she wanted to speak to her, but never mentioned Nxivm by name in her tweets.

“Emma Watson I’m a fellow actress like yourself and involved in an amazing women’s movement I think you’d dig. I’d love to chat if you’re open,” Mack wrote.

“Emma Watson I participate in a unique human development and women’s movement I’d love to tell you about. As a fellow actress I can relate so well to your vision and what you want to see in the world. I think we could work together. Let me know if you’re willing to chat,” she tweeted at Watson again one month later in February 2016.

In spite of hearing nothing back from Watson, who is the UN Women Global Goodwill Ambassador, she penned a tweet to her again.

“Kelly Clarkson I heard through the grapevine that you’re a fan of Smallville. I’m a fan of yours as well! I’d love to chat sometime,” Mack tweeted at Clarkson in July 2013.

Mack faces a minimum sentence of 15 years in jail if convicted on all charges. She has been charged with sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy and forced labour in conspiracy related to Nxivm.

Prosecutors said she helped recruit “vulnerable” women to the group.

They alleged that upon joining, the women were forced to have sex with Mr Raniere, branded with his initials and made to eat low-calorie diets to satisfy the leader’s alleged preference for thin women.

They claimed that the women were also made to give nude photographs, other personal information or rights to assets as collateral that could be used to threaten them with at a later date.

They alleged Mack gained a range of benefits - including financial ones for recruiting other individuals to the group.

“Under the guise of female empowerment, she starved women until they fit her co-defendant's sexual ideal, and she targeted vulnerable women,” Assistant US Attorney Moira Kim Penza said at Friday's hearing.

Mack, who appeared at a brief hearing in federal court in Brooklyn before US Magistrate Judge Cheryl Pollak, was denied bail but may be granted it later if she could offer “significant property”.

Sean Buckley, a lawyer for Mack, said at Friday's hearing: ”The allegations contained in the indictment are only that, allegations”.

Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Mr Raniere, said earlier this month that he was “confident these allegations will be soundly disproven.”

Nxvim released a statement on its website which said: “In response to the allegations against our founder, Keith Raniere, we are currently working with the authorities to demonstrate his innocence and true character. We strongly believe the justice system will prevail in bringing the truth to light."

It said it was “saddened” by reports, adding: “It is during the times of greatest adversity that integrity, humanity and compassion are hardest, and needed most.”

The group, which claims to be “working to build a better world” claims it is “a community guided by humanitarian principles that seek to empower people and answer important questions about what it means to be human”.

The Independent contacted a representative of Watson and Clarkson for comment.

Additional reporting by Reuters