Marc Elliot is an American author. He is a member of NXIVM, a cult that purported to be a multi-level marketing company. Elliot claims that taking courses through NXIVM and working directly with Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman have helped him overcome his Tourette syndrome and the various tics that used to affect him.[1]

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Life and career

Marc Elliot was born in 1985 in St. Louis.[2] He was diagnosed with Hirschsprung's disease, a rare intestinal disease, at birth.[2] A series of operations for the same left him with only 4 feet of small intestines.[1] When Elliot was nine years old, he was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome.[3] Elliot's case was brought into attention when he was covered by a local news channel, WTHR, for being ejected off a Greyhound. Sixteen-year-old Elliot repeatedly, and uncontrollably, shouted a racial slur. While the driver was aware of his condition, he was ejected from the bus taking him home to St. Louis as other passengers objected to his usage of the word.[4] Elliot made his first presentation at Clayton High School.[2]

Elliot attended Washington University in St. Louis, where he studied biology. Upon graduating in May 2008, he decided to embark upon a nationwide speaking tour, trying to raise awareness not only about his condition, but also to spread the message of tolerance which he believed was equally important. He has given about 300 talks in 40 states.[1] His presentation, "What Makes You Tic?", draws upon his own experiences of feeling uncomfortable and not fitting in order to discuss rudimentary messages about tolerance.[5]

He has a short documentary on YouTube describing his experiences living with Tourette.[6] In 2011, Campus Magazine named Elliot the winner of the best speaker and best diversity artist of the year.[7] His book, What Makes You Tic? My Journey From Tourette's To Tolerance, was published in January 2013.[8]

Elliot is based in Manhattan, New York.[1]

NXIVM and My Tourette's documentary

Marc Elliot is a member of NXIVM, a cult and self-help organization, the leadership of which was convicted of sex trafficking, forced labor and racketeering. Elliot credits NXIVM co-founders Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman for curing his Tourette syndrome using the so-called "Rational Inquiry method."[9]

In 2014, Elliot married a Canadian NXIVM student, actress Maja Miljkovic, to help obtain a work visa for her. The marriage ended following an investigation by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.[10] Allegations of visa fraud, identity theft, and human trafficking were central to the Department of Justice's RICO Act case against Keith Raniere and Clare Bronfman.[11]

Patent applications for the Rational Inquiry method claim that it is a "a method for detecting and removing disintegrations" and do not mention Tourette's. [12] Rational Inquiry has been dismissed in coverage of NXIVM as a "pseudoscience."[13][14][15]

Salzman pled guilty in 2018 to racketeering conspiracy, including conspiracy to obstruct justice, for altering video evidence proving she had previously made unsupported health claims about Rational Inquiry.[16]

Elliot appears in My Tourette's, a 2018 documentary film directed by Alessandro Molatore, that showcases a purported study of the use of Rational Inquiry to treat Tourette's Syndrome. The film is executive produced by Clare Bronfman who has bankrolled several NXIVM-related projects.[17][18]

The film identifies the Tourette's study's "lead researcher" as Brandon Porter. In 2019, the New York State Department of Health suspended Porter's license to practice medicine in the state, finding that he conducted this and other studies without an appropriate human research review committee.[19][20]

Following their criminal indictment in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, NXIVM leaders Keith Raniere and Clare Bronfman each submitted the My Tourette's film and cited the use of the Rational Inquiry method to treat Tourette's as character evidence in their respective cases. Raniere's attorney submitted a DVD of the film in support of his request for bail.[21] Judge Nicholas Garaufis denied this motion.[22] Bronfman submitted the film in a request for a sentence less than the guideline of 24–30 months imprisonment.[23] Garaufis instead sentenced Bronfman to 78 months imprisonment, well above guidelines.[24]

In a response to Bronfman's claims about the Tourette's Syndrome study, prosecutors from the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York wrote, "the participants in this 'study' have expressed significant distress at their involvement" and offered one victim impact statement from a study participant who said that the study "did nothing for me except ruin my self-esteem, ruin my mental health, and made me hate myself. It did not cure my Tourette’s in any way."[25]

In 2020, following the sentencing of Keith Raniere to 120 years imprisonment, Elliot helped form Make Justice Blind, an organization that claims to fight injustices in the criminal justice system. The group is led by loyal NXIVM and Keith Raniere supporters. The group is offering a monetary challenge to exonerate Raniere on both his sex trafficking and forced labor charges.[26]

In September 2020, Elliot spoke out in defense of Raniere in an interview with CBS News This Morning.[27]

In October 2021, Elliot filed a $12 million lawsuit against Lions Gate Entertainment, alleging the Starz network documentary series Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult libelled and defamed him.[28] In November 2022, Judge Sunshine Sykes dismissed the lawsuit and granted Lions Gate Entertainment's request for attorneys' fees and costs. The judge found that the documentary did "imply that Plaintiff was a devoted member of an organization whose leader has been implicated in a range of serious sexual crimes, but this assertion – however unflattering – is substantially true."[29]

References

External links

• Official website