NOTE: This episode discusses sex, sexual exploitation, coercion, and sexual abuse. What happens when female empowerment, Silicon Valley startup culture, spiritual enlightenment, and clitoral stroking walk into a fluorescent-lit conference room? You get OneTaste. In this episode, we sit down with Bloomberg investigative journalist Ellen Huet, author of Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult, to unpack the rise and fall of OneTaste, the orgasmic meditation company founded by Nicole Daedone that promised connection, healing, and transformation through a 15-minute partnered orgasm practice called OM (Orgasmic Meditation). But behind the language of liberation and "turn-on" were allegations of sexual coercion, financial exploitation, sexual abuse, forced labor, and a belief system that taught members their discomfort was just something to push through on the path to enlightenment. Ellen walks us through how her 2018 investigation helped expose the darker side of the company, the criminal case that followed, and why OneTaste's story is not just about sex. It's about power, belonging, manipulation, and the very human longing to be seen. FIND ELLEN: Instagram: @ehuet Book: Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult Bloomberg: bloomberg.com/authors/ASmGayS_jTQ/ellen-huet__ ___________________________________ FOLLOW US → For more culty content — follow us on Instagram & TikTok → @wasiinacult SUPPORT THE SHOW Join our Patreon! Get ad-free episodes, bonus content, and behind-the-scenes conversations. (And our forever gratitude) HAVE A CULTY STORY? Email us → [email protected]

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

Transcript

Related