Later, she learned that India had joined a "secret sorority" within NXIVM called D.O.S., where she was labeled a "slave," forcibly branded with Raniere's initials, and allegedly put on an incredibly restrictive diet. And I didn't want to for a long time. And he's a predator.". Catherine Oxenberg 1987.jpg 1,351 1,977; 535 KB. "It's very gentle. The second half of HBO's The Vow chronicles Catherine Oxenberg's quest to rescue her daughter India from NXIVM, the cult brought down in 2018 amid charges of sex trafficking and fraud. But, India Oxenbergs story is not captured within The Vow. This is because Catherine Oxenberg made the deliberate decision to separate from Amer and Noujaim after Mack and Raniere were arrested in 2018. I thought I needed to know certain things about myself to move forward with my goals and dreams. In 1992, Catherine Oxenberg once again portrayed Princess Diana in the ABC television movie Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After. "Dynasty" actress Catherine Oxenberg fought for years to free her daughter India from the group and, for the first time, broke her silence after breaking free from the so-called cult NXIVM in an exclusive interview with ABC News. [25], In 2020, Oxenberg was featured in The Vow, a documentary series for HBO, directed by Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer, which follows Oxenbergs attempts to rescue her daughter India. The inspiration was Oxenbergs 1997 roman-a-clef, Royal Blue, about a dysfunctional clan of minor European royals. Gaslighting is a behavior used to manipulate a person into questioning their own feelings, sanity, and reality. The original wound from which Oxenbergs pain seems to flow is her parents bitterly unhappy six-year marriage. "I just wanted my daughter back," she told People. A predator knows how to identify and use people for their own desires. In other words, there is a normalization and concealment of the perpetrators' behavior so that outsiders would have no idea what they were getting themselves into. [16] In December 1992, Oxenberg was living with her daughter in Coldwater Canyon, Los Angeles, California. The system in place that they designed in order to be able to get access to women is the same. She knows how to combine imagination with facts as this way she promotes her blogs and stories.. When India was indoctrinated, she told her mother she never wanted to have kids: They shut down your emotional center and your ability to love in this cult, explained Catherine. She wasnt lying, either: That is what I believed, India later explained. If models are known too well, it detracts from the impetus They were also related to brothers Prince Nicholas of Greece and Denmark and Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark. I want to have that last moment of me saying my piece to him there in the room, India said. She is the eldest daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia (born 1936) and her first husband Howard Oxenberg (19192010), a Jewish[1] dress manufacturer and close friend of the Kennedy family. Hence my desire, from time to time, to immerse myself in a new language when my brain can cope and stay focused. In 1987, she acted in two television movie a thriller drama Still Crazy Like a Fox and romantic comedy Roman Holiday. I was imported into their inner circle, which normalized and concealed all of Keith's (the leader's) behaviors so that those from the outside had no idea what I was experiencing. Id love to continue writing and doing work like this, she said, referencing the Starz series. Catherine Oxenberg is an American actress who is best known for her work in the ABC's primetime romance drama series Dynasty.Earlier she began her career as a professional model and thereafter took up acting as a career. "Dynasty" actress Catherine Oxenberg fought for years to free her daughter India from the group and, for the first time, broke her silence after breaking free from the so-called cult NXIVM in an exclusive interview with ABC News. Students speak out after some colleges ban TikTok from campuses. Oxenberg, the daughter. As Catherine fought for her daughter to see the light, she also prepared for that dayreadying a support system to be on standby, including a legal team, a deprogrammer, and a few FBI contacts. If you're a loved one who wants to be there for a survivor but isn't sure how, remember this method from my friends at RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization: TALK. She also acted in an episode each of television series Baywatch (2000) and Out of Practice (2005) and appeared as herself in television documentaries E! And I didn't see it as that at the time," India Oxenberg explained. As part of the grooming process and manipulation, I was taught not to trust myself, to put my gut feelings aside and to just listen to what I was told. ", Her own relationship with Raniere, she said, "took a different turn and became sexual when -- I was commanded to do a seduction assignment.". [13] A contemporary Harvard Crimson piece indicates that she was at least initially in the Class of 1983, dubbing her "queen of the facebook".[14]. If you feel ready to speak with someone who is trained to help, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800.656.HOPE . When someone tries to coerce you, it is difficult to actually see the reality of the situation when you're conditioned and gaslighted into questioning your own instincts. The trickier part of it all was that from the outside looking in, a lot of it could pass as a normal, seemingly legitimate, company with at the very least some unconventional practices or alternative, as they would describe them. You're being trained into believing what serves the perpetrator and the way the perpetrator thinks. [10][11], In 2019, Catherine Oxenberg produced and narrated Escaping the NXIVM Cult: A Mother's Fight to Save Her Daughter where Andrea Roth portrayed her. Men had disappointed me severelyso I pushed him off quite a bit.. A couple of years laterin 1984i she shot for a pilot episode of an action-adventure series Cover Up wherein she played Michelle Lloyd. Thank you, Steve, and welcome to my "Sermons" page! And I -- I just feel so lucky that I can have that.". ", She continued, "There's predation on so many different levels. .css-1du65oy{color:#323232;display:block;font-family:NewParis,Georgia,Times,serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;-webkit-font-smoothing:auto;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-1du65oy:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-1du65oy{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-1du65oy{font-size:1.0625rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1du65oy{font-size:1.3125rem;line-height:1.2;}}Kate Middleton Makes the Case for Houndstooth, Prince William & Kate Middleton Visit Wales, Courteney Cox Hasn't Read Prince Harry's Memoir, Historic Photos of King George VI's Coronation, William And Kate Cheer On Opposing Sports Teams, Prince Harry to Have Intimate Online Conversation, Lady Susan Hussey Returns to Royal Duties, King Charles Letter on Anniversary of Ukraine War. The show brought her a lot of popularity. I will fiercely never let that happen again, and be much more watchful and mindful of people., Catherine has endless empathy for her daughters ordeal. These are emotions that many survivors face after experiencing abuse or sexual violence. Openly nonbinary performers such asJanelle Mone and Emma Corrin have supported de-gendered Hollywood awards, which have been adopted by the Independent Spirit Awards and other organizations. Oxenberg is also a second cousin once removed of Queen Sofa of Spain and Charles III of the United Kingdom, making Catherine a third cousin of Felipe VI of Spain and Prince William, Prince of Wales. . In June 1991, Oxenberg had a daughter, India Riven Oxenberg, whose father was later revealed to be the convicted drug smuggler William Weitz Shaffer. During her years in DOS, India said she felt detached from her feelings, thoughts, and desires. India Oxenberg and her mother, Catherine Oxenberg. The human rights activist, who is Prince Charles' second cousin, has since lived in Kenya, South Africa, Greece, Paris, London, and New York. (Her ex-husband is the artist Damian Elwes, brother of The Princess Bride star Cary Elwes.). And so, as far as justice for Keith, a life sentence [is what I want] and thats what the government is asking for., This man is unrepentant, she continues. There were several turning points for me before that. Catherine Oxenberg, for the record, says she has complete confidence in the government when it comes to the future sentencing. Still, there are times when Catherine Oxenberg wrestles with the guilt she feels over attending introductory NXIVM classes with her daughter and later putting her story in the media spotlight without her approval even though that latter part meant saving her from further psychological and physical harm. The second half of HBO's The Vow chronicles Catherine Oxenberg's quest to rescue her daughter India from NXIVM, the cult brought down in 2018 amid charges of sex . For years, her mother publicly and privately fought to free India Oxenberg from the group. As a princess she was able to outdo him and get the president., Among the piquant details Oxenberg shares is that when her father discovered the liaison, he traveled to Washington with a pistol. "I just know that [India] and her mother are very close again, and we're very relieved and grateful for that. I have a physical scar -- but you don't have to live with that. But I feel that after the age of 50, the gloves have to come off., Oxenberg is estranged from her mother, Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, as well as her sisterwho remains best-known for a two-year run on Dynasty in the 1980sand writes unsparingly about them both. We both found an inner strength that, unless we had gone through this, we wouldnt have known was inside. Though Raniere and Mack have yet to be sentenced, Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman recently received just under seven years in prison for her involvement with NXIVM. Thank them for telling you. In 2006, Oxenberg appeared in the TV special, Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar, in which she was reunited with her former Dynasty castmates to reminisce about the series. Because of the nature of the relationship, she explained that she felt like she could not turn down what was being asked of her. Spouse/Ex-: Casper Van Dien (m. 19992015), Robert Evans (m. 19981998), siblings: Christina Oxenberg, Nicholas Augustus Balfour, children: Christina Oxenberg, Nicholas Augustus Balfour, Ancestry: Danish American, Finnish American, Swedish American, Serbian American, Russian American, education: Harvard University, Columbia University, St. Paul's School. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. You may feel and think those things, but those thoughts can also be damaging ideas your abusers wanted you to believe. That was a huge, huge moment for me, India told Vanity Fair. "It was a trap," she said bluntly. I remember those feelings clearly. I still find myself being resistant to certain thingseven with my fianc, who I feel totally safe with, said India. ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images. India Oxenberg is an advocate, author of "Still Learning: A Memoir" on Audible, and former member of Nxivm. But how I was brought up, everybody I was ever introduced to had a title. Later, she once again portrayed Princess Diana in the ABC television movie Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After. Catherine fought for years to free her daughter from the cult and its leader Keith Raniere. So I said, Who do you want to speak withBig Mike or Little Mike? She said, Big Mike, and called him straightaway., Said Catherine, It was the moment I had been praying for., Its like freaking Shakespeare, India told Vanity Fair last week in one of her first interviews, looking back on her NXIVM saga. I designed a tattoo around the brand, she explained. After Mack was arrested, India even agreed to box up Macks property and put it in storage. I couldnt get her out, so I had to take down the whole organization, Catherine Oxenberg tells Variety. The 56-year-old bon vivant is the daughter of a Serbian princess; cousin to the .css-gegin5{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;text-decoration-thickness:0.0625rem;text-decoration-color:inherit;text-underline-offset:0.25rem;color:#9a0500;-webkit-transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;transition:all 0.3s ease-in-out;}.css-gegin5:hover{color:#595959;text-decoration-color:border-link-body-hover;}British royal family, and sister of the Hollywood actress, Catherine Oxenberg. 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