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Guy Who Popularized 'Groomers' Slur Livid After Photo Of Him With Sex Cult Member Goes Viral
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.
\u201cReminder that James Lindsay loves hanging out with the former right-hand lieutenant to NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere, who is currently in prison for child sex trafficking \n\n@conceptualjames is a coward and fraud who immediately blocked us for politely suggesting research\u201d— An Open Secret (@An Open Secret) 1669525834
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.
\u201cWhat the hell is this guy overcompensating for with this little shtick?\u201d— James Lindsay, enrages the groomers (@James Lindsay, enrages the groomers) 1669814840
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.
\u201cGet rekt.\u201d— James Lindsay, enrages the groomers (@James Lindsay, enrages the groomers) 1669782718
He also leveled the "groomer" slur at the Twitter account after he was called out for urging his followers to "ditch this scumbag site."
\u201cOk groomer\u201d— James Lindsay, enrages the groomers (@James Lindsay, enrages the groomers) 1669772126
And in perhaps the biggest sign of his annoyance, he asked his followers to report the photo of him and Clyne as "spamming."
\u201cIf you have time, when you see that spammed photo in my replies, report it for spamming. It's not hard to ignore, but it needs getting shut down.\u201d— James Lindsay, enrages the groomers (@James Lindsay, enrages the groomers) 1669606668
But that plea has only attracted more attention to the photo and Lindsay has been heavily mocked as a result.
\u201cThat's not very "free speech" of you, James\n\nhttps://t.co/gWTvRpqgyy\u201d— most groomers are straight (@most groomers are straight) 1669692743
\u201cjames lindsay, a guy who says trans people are pedo, don't like when you remember him he's friend with a member of a gr**ming sex cult, it's very weird, you know like as if he were just a hypocrite and doesn't care about gr**mers but he's just transphobic\ud83e\udd21\u201d— Radical_Dreamer (@Radical_Dreamer) 1669643063
\u201cThis one?\u201d— Pack Up the Cats (@Pack Up the Cats) 1669652074
\u201cIf i didn\u2019t want to be spammed with a picture showing myself posing with the effective leader of a notorious pedophilic rape cult, I would simply not pose with the effective leader of a notorious pedophilic rape cult.\u201d— Sarah Noble \ud83d\udd36\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Sarah Noble \ud83d\udd36\ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1669654524
\u201cwhich one, champ, this one? why wouldn't you want to be caught posing with a member of the NXIVM sex cult? \n\nseems pretty on brand for you, tbh\u201d— Tony Bushell (@Tony Bushell) 1669692042
\u201c@ConceptualJames Just to be sure we have the right one, it's this one right?\u201d— James Lindsay, enrages the groomers (@James Lindsay, enrages the groomers) 1669606668
\u201c@ConceptualJames Quiet everybody! the anti-cancel culture free speech enthusiast is talking!\u201d— James Lindsay, enrages the groomers (@James Lindsay, enrages the groomers) 1669606668
\u201c@ConceptualJames So wait, now free speech is bad? I\u2019m confused.\u201d— James Lindsay, enrages the groomers (@James Lindsay, enrages the groomers) 1669606668
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.