The audience fell silent and sat transfixed on accused 'cult leader' Nicole Daedone staging a live demonstration of orgasmic meditation with a bold female volunteer, whose pleasurable moans echoed around the room.
It wasn't your ordinary networking event in Los Angeles, with the display of passion also shown on a giant wide-screen monitor as each stroke of the woman's genitalia was described in detail.
The rebranded 'Institute of OM' did all it could to wow guests with the 'spiritual experience' after addressing the elephant in the room - those damning allegations.
Four years ago, Bloomberg Businessweek released an investigative report in which former staff and participants of OneTaste sessions alleged the sexual wellness business had a secret sinister side.
The FBI is still believed to be probing the company, which has since changed its name, amid shocking allegations of prostitution, sex trafficking, and violations of labor laws.
But no criminal charges have been filed, and the only lawsuit which was brought by a member in New York in 2018, claiming sexual abuse and fraud, has been dismissed by a judge.
Despite finding herself in hot water after selling her share of the company, founder Daedone is adamant she will not give up on the Institute of OM.
A new Netflix documentary, Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste, delved deeper into the accusations, but the company has pushed on, hosting its first event in years in New York last month.
This week, Daedone also gave a talk and demonstration at a 'Women Over Dinner' evening in Los Angeles, with a number of loyal participants, friends, and journalists invited for the relaunch.
Every guest at each table had to answer surprising questions, such as "Describe yourself unleashed?" and "Have you ever let yourself fall in love (not necessarily in a sexual way) with a woman?"
The men were finally able to join them later in the night, as everyone was ushered into the main room at Playa Studios in Culver City before Daedone took to the stage.
The aim during her demonstration was not necessarily for the volunteer to climax, but for her to be in the moment, and for guests to be entranced and connected to both of them.
During the orgasm meditation session, onlookers bizarrely began shouting out their 'sensations', with one woman declaring: "Warmth in my p***y."
Another man bellowed: "Tension in my forehead," as Daedone bragged she had the woman "locked in" as she lay motionless with her eyes closed, legs spread, before being applauded.
The U.S. Sun later sat down with Daedone herself, who believes justice will prevail and the documentary was "full of inaccuracies" and stolen footage that exploited women who believed the courses they were taking would remain private.
Director Sarah Gibson previously insisted all of the footage in the 90-minute doc was "legally obtained," and many scenes had been released by OneTaste itself in promo videos.
Company founders were accused of encouraging sales staff to have sex with clients to lure them into paying tens of thousands of dollars for year-long memberships.
Daedone and other leaders allegedly encouraged female staffers to offer their bodies during demonstrations to new customers.
Its "aversion therapy" has been described as involving clients partaking in sexual acts they did not feel comfortable with or sleeping with people they had argued with.
Participants also reported alleged verbal and emotional abuse under Daedone's leadership.
One woman appeared on the Netflix film reading out letters from her sister, a former participant, who described how a man allegedly shook her and "screamed at me how he would like to rape me, beat me, use me” while onlookers from OneTaste watched.
DAMNING CLAIMS
The company has always denied any wrongdoing and says "any allegations of abusive practices are completely false".
Recalling the day she was 'canceled' when the Bloomberg article dropped, Daedone said she was with friends at the gym, and initially couldn't bring herself to read it.
"I said, 'What do we do? What do we do?' As if any of the three of us knew. [But] we had an attorney because I had sold the company already," she told The U.S. Sun.
"I'm a woman, so I thought I had done everything wrong. I actually worked with a therapist for months on just digging ... Every time I had said something that was offbeat to somebody, took a shortcut, or any of those things.
"Of course we made mistakes, [but] there was nothing illegal. I hope the day never comes that I stop examining."
Asked if she suffered from depression or was even suicidal as everyone turned against her, she replied: "I was both, I went through the whole gamut.
"I couldn't date, how do you date somebody with Google? [I focused on] meditation and writing, meditation and writing, meditation and writing. That just became my sole focus.
"If I lifted my head, I would look out at the debris of my life. I describe it as getting sober from the world.
"Here's the weird thing; on this side of it, I wouldn't change it for anything. But in it, that was the most painful thing. It would've been more painful than dying, it was every single day."
When asked what she thought about the documentary, she guffawed, claiming she was initially told it would be a positive film about OneTaste, and met with those producing it.
"They put snakes in every freaking scene," she blasted. "And then they interviewed everybody on beds with shirts off. That's so tacky."
Referring to accusations that women were abused within the community, Daedone said she spent months investigating to try and find out the truth of what happened.
She also hired New York-based PR expert Juda Engelmayer, described as an "experienced public relations and crisis communications professional," whose clients include Harvey Weinstein.
He told The U.S. Sun he chose to work with Daedone because he likes taking on "the underdog," adding he has not heard any update on the FBI investigation and believes in the company.
My clitoris was stroked for hours a day"
Founder Nicole Deadone
Daedone went on: "I'm the captain of a ship. So if anybody's hurt, I want to know. I want to know everything. That that would happen on my watch, it's anathema to everything I believe."
As her social circle shrunk, she spent time soul-searching, flying to the likes of Italy and Bali but insists she was not in hiding, which was suggested during the Netflix documentary.
She has been writing a series of new books, including a manifesto and her wild memoir chronicling childhood trauma and her rather adventurous life.
The online bio reads: "I am the woman you have always been terrified of. I don't remember the time before my father touched me there. I had my first sugar daddy at 16 and a short stint as a prostitute at 28.
"I was an academic star in the women’s studies department at San Francisco State. I felt so choked by a conventional life as a gallery owner that I tore off the little black dress and pearls and traded it for an LSD guru.
"I have been beaten, choked, addicted to drugs, money, and power. I have been the ultimate victim. And I will talk about it all."
Since the scandal, she has also been working in women's prisons and feeding the homeless through her project Free Food.
On stage during a talk before the demonstration, Daedone initially appeared nervous and lost for words, but was met with applause from followers as she addressed the allegations.
She said: "I was hit by the bomb that's called canceled and I was thrown under my desk, I was vomiting and shaking and crying and self-pitying and scared.
"I'm a brave woman, and I did not know that that kind of terror existed, my phone overnight went from 2,400 people to 40 people. My agent at the time said, 'I wouldn't touch her with a ten-foot pole.'
"I did not know what it meant to be an untouchable human being, and then I did.
"And then there were some people, some teachers, some guides, some really rare and fearless friends, they said, 'Get up, come on, we're gonna do the science, you're gonna write the books'.
"I didn't know if I ever wanted to come out again, it's a lot to face after you read things, someone inadvertently sent me an article once which said, 'Messianic cult leader' ... about me."
She said the situation turned into a "California wildfire," and later resulted in "what we loosely call a documentary," as the audience laughed, and she rolled her eyes.
"I can tell you that I watched it, I was eating my popcorn I was watching it, I was thinking, 'God, that woman, she is badass, who is that, look at her go' in the first half and all of a sudden [it took a turn].
"I am a wild woman, I am a free woman, and as such, there is no lack of material that they could have used for a documentary. I lived in an orgasm monastery, my clitoris was stroked for hours a day.
"I lived in an acid house, I have ingested copious amounts of LSD, I am more fluent probably in that world than I am in this world."
AFTER SCANDAL
She also joked about her changing appearance, admitting: "They could have even reported on the fact that I used some botox, I used rejuvaderm, I had my breasts done ... thank you."
Daedone flaunted her assets as the crowd erupted with laughter, before adding: "That's the woman they could have covered, but instead they chose the more predictable story... The cult leader, corrupted by money and power.
"I just want to say that's patently not true, and you can determine for yourself, of course."
She told The U.S. Sun she could have carried on with her own projects and not returned to the 'orgasmic meditation scene', but she was determined to move past the scandal.
"There's a whole world of wise people who said, 'Nicole, just keep your mouth shut. Just like slide through. The worst is over.' [But] I didn't go through all of this to back out.
"It has been devastating, but it made me into a woman who can come out and actually say what needs to be said, in a way that I don't think I could before. I still had some people-pleaser in me.
"When I sold the company to them [three long-time collaborators], it wasn't long after Bloomberg came out, and I said to them, 'If you want your money back, you can have your money back because this is going to be devastating for you.' And they said, 'Oh no.'
"I made an agreement with all of them, 'I will do everything I can to have you be successful so that you don't end up on the bad end of the stick.' So I'll do this as long as it takes to get them rolling again.
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