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Slide 2 of 4

What Was Mark Vicente's Involvement With NXIVM?

As The Vow reveals, Vicente joined NXIVM at a time when he was seeking personal and professional development and, over time, got sucked further and further into the organisation. He eventually even rose to the rank of board member, according to The New York Times, although he was reportedly not involved in the particularly horrifying "inner circle" involving sexual slavery. He did, however, contribute to the group's propaganda: he made a documentary called Encender el Corazón — Ignite the Heart that praised Raniere's work in Mexico.

Vicente actually recorded a fair bit of footage from within NXIVM, using his documentary filmmaking skills to record both during his time in the cult and after he decided to leave. In fact, he recorded some of the footage at Raniere's own request: Raniere wanted him to make a documentary about him and the organisation. In 2017, word reached Vicente and his wife about the secret sex-slavery inner society. Piesse left first and was ostracized, and although it took Vicente longer to leave, he eventually did and became a leading whistleblower against the organisation.