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The Cult Dossier · No. 101 · Commercial / Therapy / Lgat

OneTaste

the orgasmic meditation company

2004 – 2018 (as OneTaste) · San Francisco; New York; London

XI. THERAPY, POLITICS AND THE SMALL GROUPS

Non-religious — a wellness business

Who led it

NICOLE DAEDONE, who co-founded OneTaste with ROBERT KANDELL, and RACHEL CHERWITZ, head of sales.

What it worshipped and taught

ORGASMIC MEDITATION (OM) — a 15-minute practice in which a partner strokes a woman's clitoris on a timer, marketed as a path to connection, presence and female empowerment. Courses ranged from 499 dollars to 60,000 dollars a year. Former employees and members described a sales culture in which staff were pressured into sexual encounters with prospects and investors, were loaded with debt to fund courses, and lived communally under intense pressure with sleep and food restricted.

Who was in it

Nicole Daedone; Rachel Cherwitz; Ayries Blanck, whose journals were central to the prosecution; the Bloomberg Businessweek investigation of June 2018 by Ellen Huet; the Netflix documentary Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste (5 November 2022); Judge Diane Gujarati.

How it ended, or where it stands

Both convicted and sentenced; the company is gone, though orgasmic meditation is still marketed under other names.

The dead

—

Of note

Included because it is the first successful US prosecution of a wellness company under forced labour statutes. It marks the point at which the legal system began treating the coercive-commercial model as a distinct offence rather than a religious-liberty question.

Its timeline

  1. 2004 Founded in San Francisco. Revenue reaches 6.5 million dollars in 2014 and 12 million in 2017.
  2. JUNE 2018 Bloomberg Businessweek investigation; the FBI opens an inquiry; OneTaste shuts its physical operations.
  3. 5 NOVEMBER 2022 Netflix's Orgasm Inc. released.
  4. JUNE 2023 Daedone and Cherwitz's indictment is unsealed in the Eastern District of New York for CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT FORCED LABOUR.
  5. 9 JUNE 2025 Both CONVICTED by a federal jury after a five-week trial. The government established that from roughly 2006 to May 2018 they coerced young women who had come to OneTaste seeking healing into performing labour, including sexual labour — some were required to perform sexual acts with OneTaste INVESTORS.
  6. 30 MARCH 2026 NICOLE DAEDONE SENTENCED TO 9 YEARS and RACHEL CHERWITZ TO 78 MONTHS by Judge Diane Gujarati, who criticised Daedone's lack of remorse. A 12 MILLION DOLLAR forfeiture money judgment is entered against Daedone, and 887,877.64 dollars in restitution is ordered for seven victims.
  7. 2026 The practice is still promoted online under other names, including through AI-generated likenesses of the convicted leaders.

Its people

Nicole Daedone

—

Founder and CEO, OneTaste · — · active 2004–2018

Founded a company selling 'orgasmic meditation' — a timed 15-minute stroking practice — as female empowerment, with courses priced from 499 dollars to 60,000 dollars a year and a TED talk that drew millions of views. Federal prosecutors established that from 2006 to 2018 she and her head of sales coerced young women who came seeking healing into performing labour, including sexual labour, and that some were required to perform sexual acts with OneTaste investors. Convicted in June 2025 and sentenced in March 2026.

Before the law. CONVICTED OF FORCED LABOUR CONSPIRACY BY A FEDERAL JURY IN JUNE 2025 after a five-week trial, and SENTENCED IN MARCH 2026 — the two dates are distinct and this file previously ran them together. NINE YEARS, imposed by US DISTRICT JUDGE DIANE GUJARATI in the Eastern District of New York. The conduct ran from about 2006 to MAY 2018: coercing labour, including sexual labour, from young women who had come to OneTaste seeking healing and spiritual growth. Co-defendant RACHEL CHERWITZ, former Head of Sales, received 78 MONTHS. The court also imposed a 12 MILLION DOLLAR FORFEITURE MONEY JUDGMENT against Daedone and awarded 887,877.64 DOLLARS IN RESTITUTION TO SEVEN VICTIMS. Source: US Department of Justice, EDNY.

Where things stand. SENTENCED. THIS FILE PREVIOUSLY SAID ONLY THAT SHE WAS AWAITING SENTENCE, AND THAT IS NOW OUT OF DATE. RE-CHECKED 2026-09-07: convicted with RACHEL CHERWITZ in JUNE 2025 after a five-week trial in Brooklyn federal court, and sentenced in LATE MARCH 2026 by US DISTRICT JUDGE DIANE GUJARATI to NINE YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON for forced labour conspiracy, with a $12 MILLION FORFEITURE JUDGMENT and $887,877.64 IN RESTITUTION to seven victims. The conduct charged ran from about 2006 to May 2018. Nothing consulted establishes the outcome of any appeal.

  1. 2004 Founds OneTaste in San Francisco.
  2. JUNE 2018 Bloomberg Businessweek investigation; the FBI opens an inquiry; operations shut.
  3. JUNE 2023 Indictment for conspiracy to commit forced labour unsealed.
  4. 9 June 2025 CONVICTED by a federal jury after a five-week trial.
  5. 30 MARCH 2026 SENTENCED TO 9 YEARS, with a 12 million dollar forfeiture judgment. The judge criticised her lack of remorse.

Checked 2026-09-17 · living: health details are kept at home

Ellen Huet

—

Bloomberg Businessweek reporter, the OneTaste investigation · — · active 2018–present

Her 2018 Bloomberg Businessweek investigation into OneTaste documented the sales culture, the debt loaded onto members, the communal living conditions and the pressure on staff into sexual encounters with prospects and investors. The FBI opened an inquiry and the company shut its operations. Seven years later the founder and head of sales were convicted of forced labour conspiracy and sentenced. Her reporting is the origin point of the first successful US prosecution of a wellness company under forced labour statutes.

Before the law. Journalist.

Where things stand. LIVING AND WORKING — confirmed to late 2025. She remains an investigative journalist at BLOOMBERG NEWS and BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK, and hosts the Bloomberg narrative podcast FOUNDERING, whose seasons cover WeWork and OpenAI. THIS FILE MISSED HER BOOK: EMPIRE OF ORGASM, published NOVEMBER 2025, the full account of the OneTaste story, which she was still discussing publicly through the end of that year. THE CAUSAL CHAIN BELONGS ON THE RECORD. HER 2018 BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK INVESTIGATION IS WHAT PROMPTED THE FBI TO OPEN ITS INQUIRY INTO ONETASTE — which led to the June 2025 forced-labour convictions and the March 2026 sentencing of NICOLE DAEDONE (L069). One magazine article to a nine-year federal sentence.

  1. 2018 Publishes the Bloomberg Businessweek investigation.
  2. 2018 OneTaste closes its physical operations; the FBI opens an inquiry.
  3. 2023 Daedone and Cherwitz indicted.
  4. 9 June 2025 Both convicted of forced labour conspiracy.
  5. 30 March 2026 Daedone sentenced to nine years.

Checked 2026-08-24 · living: health details are kept at home

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