Angelica Hinoj was prepared and ready to have her flesh branded with the initials of a man she hardly knew, and she was excited about it.

To Angelica, though, the brand wasn't about the man. It was about the personal development she felt she'd undergone during her eight years at a company called Executive Success Program — a program that would go on to be more commonly known to the world by its umbrella company's name: NXIVM. The flesh-scalding brand wasn't necessarily part of ESP but rather a symbol of a secret invite-only women's society within the organization called DOS, or Dominus Obsequious Sororium, which loosely translates to "Master Over the Slave Women."

"I was scheduled to get a brand and I was excited," she says, adding that her husband was "supportive" of her plans to be branded. "The brand to me signified a commitment to my growth, and the commitment that I also was making with the other women to help them grow."

However, before the Mexico City native was able to get branded, NXIVM and ESP were shuttered after the program's founder, Keith Raniere, was arrested in 2018 on federal sex trafficking and forced labor charges. He has since been sentenced to 120 years in prison for his crimes. Former "Smallville" actress Allison Mack was also sentenced to three years in prison on racketeering charges for her role within the organization.

Via shows like HBO's "The Vow" and Starz's "Seduced," Keith's case soon took on a life of its own, as the word "cult" was thrown around leisurely, and viewers heard salacious stories about DOS, which some former members deemed nothing more than a secret sex club created to fulfill Keith's desires and boost his ego by branding women with his initials.

However, five years after NXIVM — and by default, DOS — disbanded, several women within the secret society spoke to Wonderwall.com about life within the invite-only group, and they maintain that it was about female empowerment, solidarity and love.

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In addition, they all insist that they are not Keith's victims but rather victims of the response to NXIVM.

Nicki Clyne, who gained fame as Cally Henderson on "Battlestar Galactica" in the mid-2000s, has lost friends and jobs due to her involvement in ESP and loyalty to Keith. She and several NXIVM loyalists are also named as defendants in a civil lawsuit brought on by former group members who claim the whole thing was essentially a pyramid scheme.

"I'm a victim of tremendous prejudice because at the end of the day," the former actress says, "I've done nothing wrong and yet I get attacked regularly. I've lost friends, I've lost career opportunities, I'm being sued because I won't adhere to this narrative that, you know, NXIVM was all bad, Keith is a monster and I'm a victim." 

In a legal response to the lawsuit, she argued that her name was only listed for "window dressing."

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Linda Chung, a highly educated former lawyer who was involved in ESP for more than four years, says her reputation was tarnished due to the narrative that she was in a "cult."

"There was a time where people were kicking me out of organizations and trying to get me fired," she says. "I am a victim of that in the sense that people were trying to do bad stuff to me and making up stuff about me that was just simply not true. That had real-life consequences for me."

The truth about DOS, they claim, is far less sensational than what is being told. And although women were referred to as "slaves" and "masters," this shouldn't gin up visions commonly associated with those words, the women assert. 

"DOS was a network of women who were working together to build more discipline, more personal accountability, self-reliance and mindfulness," Nicki insists. "It was a series of relationships where it would be one-on-one type mentorships where you could have total trust, total accountability. The person who invited you is called your master. You're called a slave. I know that those words are very provocative, and they were meant to be, but only in the sense that it brought up questions of freedom and choice."

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Angelica says the women in DOS were all friends and were free to come and go.

"I lived in Los Angeles at the time and my mentor lived in a completely different city. She had no way of monitoring me. She could tell me whatever, but I had choices. I had freedom to come and go as I pleased," she explains. "I think people thought we were living in a commune and not being able to leave, and we were doing some things that were very kind of dark. That just wasn't the case."

Linda maintains that DOS was "built on a foundation of true friendship."

Nicki adds, "I understand that DOS is not for everyone because it's difficult. I think that we may have been overly enthusiastic too quickly, and I think we may have invited people who thought they wanted it but didn't. Maybe [some of the women] didn't understand the commitment because they hadn't committed to something to that level until that point in their lives. I also think that some people joined more just because they wanted to be part of something that they thought was cool, which wasn't a good reason. So I think that those factors played into why, when things got hard, we didn't stick together."

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Since the group's disbandment, it's become common for former NXIVM or DOS members to speak out against the organization. The thing about DOS that's rather ironic is that it was supposed to be highly secretive. The women all gave "collateral" to ensure that they wouldn't discuss the group outside of the group  — "collateral" was essentially described as something you wouldn't want out in the public sphere, including but not limited to salacious pictures, financial records or family secrets. 

"The point was never for someone to feel coerced to do anything because of their collateral," Nicki says. There's currently no indication that anyone's "collateral" was ever released to the public.

While Nicki admits that sex was involved in DOS, it was far from a "sex cult" to satisfy Keith. In fact, Angelina and Linda — neither of whom were branded — say they hardly knew or saw the man and viewed him more as the CEO of a corporation. The vow they took wasn't even about the NXIVM leader.

"The vow that I took for life was to commit to my growth and for the growth of others. I still uphold it," Angelica says. "This was something that I really thought about and evaluated. I thought about how it would impact my life. So when I took [the vow] it was serious. It was the same way when I decided to marry my husband, you know, it had the same weight."

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The women — all of whom are highly educated — are unmoved by the negative TV shows about NXIVM and DOS, which Nicki calls "entertaining works of fiction." She even cites a part of "The Vow" in which several DOS members are outside a jail "looking crazy" and trying to get in contact with Keith. The reality, she says, was actually far less about Keith and more about humanity, something she says didn't fit the HBO show's narrative.

"We actually started a movement where we put on parties in the parking lot outside the jail," she explains, adding that weekly gatherings occurred for six months during COVID lockdowns. During this time, she says, Keith's cell window only briefly looked down on the revelry. Still, after a response from inmates, she remembers thinking, "'Wow, this is probably one of the first novel expressions of humanity they witnessed in a long time.' They've been locked essentially in a bathroom 24/7 with another grown-up. So we did it for six months and it was amazing."

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To this day, she gets Instagram messages from former inmates. "They thank us and said we made their time more bearable," Nicki says. 

Empathy, the women say, was a component of their ESP lessons. Linda insists that the teachings she received within the organization were more beneficial than those she got at Dartmouth College, Cornell Law School and Columbia Business School.

"I attribute a lot of my success now because of the traits that I really learned in ESP," she says. "For that I am forever grateful, and the [return on investment] on these trainings was far better than all of my formal education before, hands down." 

No longer in the legal world, Linda now owns a successful financial services business. But the negative perception of NXIVM — largely attributed to the TV shows, documentaries and news articles — has stayed with her.

"I've lost lifelong friends who really thought that I was either so brainwashed or so stupid or something. They thought I didn't know what I was doing," she says. "I know my intent. I know that I was really trying to help people because I believe ESP was very helpful for me."

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Angelica, who has a degree in psychology and a master's in work and organizational psychology, will never completely move on from NXIVM, nor does she want to.

"It's part of me, the learnings are with me," she says. "I do have a beautiful life and a rich life, and I think a lot of it is because of the learnings in ESP, not just the courses but because of the way I learned to think in those years."

For Nicki, her post-NXIVM life and mentality has shifted in a way she never could have imagined when she was walking red carpets and promoting mainstream network TV shows. 

"There's nothing like having everything destroyed and facing some of your biggest fears to find out who you really are, and as strange as it may sound, I wouldn't trade any of these experiences because I've grown so much," she says. "I've found out who my friends are. I've learned that I'm willing to stand up for what I believe in. I've also found such a strength and a kind of a peace within myself because I'm not so concerned with what other people think, which is hard to overcome as an actor. Your whole idea of who you are and also your value in the world is determined by what's being said, how audiences react, how much people like you."

Along with five other former DOS members, Nicki, Linda and Angelica are now working with the Dossier Project (the "DOS" in Dossier is no coincidence). The purpose is to share their perspective on what they personally experienced in DOS and with Keith. Suffice to say they had different experiences than former DOS members whose stories are more prominently featured in the news.

"We talk about what DOS really was and what we experienced," Nicki says, "but we also talk about what's going on in our culture and how we view women and how we view women's empowerment and whether some of those ideas are really as empowering as we think."

Adds Linda, "The truth really is that ESP and DOS were really good trainings and really a group of people who all shared the value of personal development. I know that doesn't sound as sexy as sex slave, but that's the truth."

Migos rappers Quavo and Offset got into a physical fight with each other backstage at the Grammys awards, and the death of fellow group member Takeoff seems to be the reason, according to a new report. 

At Sunday night's show, Quavo performed "Without You" as a tribute to Takeoff, who was gunned down at a bowling alley in Houston on Nov. 1, 2022.  TMZ said the Grammys asked Offset, who is married to Cardi B, to be a part of the "In Memoriam" tribute, but Quavo refused to let him take part. 

The site said Quavo started the fight by blocking Offset from joining him on stage. The men reportedly had to be pulled apart. 

Quavo was reportedly fiercely close with Takeoff, and wrote "Without You" for Takeoff. Offset had been on the outs with his Migos brethren, and bad blood continues between the two living group members. 

In the end, Offset was not a part of the Grammys tribute. 

Like mother, like daughter. 

Ivanka Trump paid homage to her late mother this week by reaching deep into the matriarch's closet and rewearing one of her "favorite" vintage dresses for a '20s-themed party. The dress — a white beaded frock — was worn by Ivana Trump, Ivanka's mom, at Studio 54's 25th-anniversary party in New York City back in 2002. Ivanka, then 21, attended the party with her mother.

The former White House senior adviser shared a video on her Instagram Story that showed her dancing and shimmying in the decades-old dress. 

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"Warming up for @managermyles' 30h birthday 1920's style. HBD!," Ivanka wrote alongside he video.

She later added a snap with her husband, Jared Kushner, who donned a simple button-down shirt, jeans and sneakers. In captioning the snap, Ivanka made reference to her mom, a former model, while also jabbing her husband for skipping the dress code of the evening. 

"Swinging into the night in one of my mother's favorite vintage Bob Mackie Dresses," she wrote, adding, "Jared clearly failed to comply with the 1920s theme!"

The former first daughter also posted an image of the dress to her Instagram grid. She captioned it with two dancing lady emojis. 

Ivana, who Donald Trump's first wife, was found dead in her New York townhouse in July 2022. A medical report said she sustained blunt impact injuries as the result of a fall down the stairs. She was 73.

Lisa Marie Presley's half-brother was rushed to the emergency room — where he got 34 staples in his head! — just days before her death after being "attacked" by a 2,000-pound camel, and it was all witnessed by Priscilla Presley. 

Elvis Presley's ex nearly lost two children within two weeks.

Navarone Garibaldi Garcia, who Priscilla shares with ex Marco Garibaldi, told People magazine he was feeding a camel at a sanctuary outside of Los Angeles when the animal turned on him.

"When I ran out of food, it bit me by the hand and lifted me up almost off my feet," he said. "It then dropped me on the ground and pounced. While it was pouncing on me, it literally got my whole head in its mouth and bit me."

Priscilla, Navarone said, was "freaking out" and "traumatized" in witnessing the whole ordeal.

The heavy camel, which was previously been abused in a circus, wouldn't get off Navarone, but a dog on site came to the rescue. 

"The dog knew something was wrong and was freaking out and going at its face," he says. "That's what got the camel off."

Workers at the animal sanctuary called 911, but the Them Guns frontman wanted to go to a hospital closer to his home.

"When we got to the emergency room, it was funny because everybody was sitting there with nothing too serious looking, meanwhile I had blood all over me," he says.

After getting 34 staples in his head, Navarone feels normal again.

"I mean, I was happy I survived before, but now it's like, thank God I survived," he says. "My mom would've lost two kids in two weeks."

Lisa, Elvis' only child, passed away on Jan. 12 after going into cardiac arrest.

Matt Lauer is hopeful that he may be able to return to media in some aspect, but he knows there might be "zero chance" of it actually happening.

"His friends would love to see him do something again," an insider told Page Six. "He'd be great at a podcast or his own production firm, using his skills behind the scenes. He looks at how someone like Megyn Kelly has reinvented herself on her own terms."

Further, Matt "thinks that he should be able to have a comeback," the pal added. 

A staple as a "Today" co-anchor for decades, Matt was fired from NBC in the wake of multiple sexual misconduct accusations, including rape. Since his high-profile ousting, most of Matt's media pals have shunned him, his inner circle has shrunk, and he rarely ever speaks to this former "Today" colleagues.

"He's still pretty upset about how he was ousted at NBC and upset at all the people he thought were his friends who turned their backs on him," the insider said. "He knows he made mistakes, and he is a lot more humble."

Still, Matt "has his confidence back" and the itch to get back into the media game is there, the insider says. It's really a matter of whether he can scratch it. 

"He understands that there might not be any sort of appetite for [a comeback]," said the insider. "In other words, he wants to see if there would be any chance — but he understands fully that there might be zero chance. He's not unrealistic."

The pal adds, "His problem is that he can't go back to mainstream TV, because advertisers would likely pull away. He could do a podcast or something on his own terms. All of his friends hope he can find a pathway. But he isn't rushing into anything."

Interestingly, a media source told Page Six that Matt has been presented with opportunities, but something always seemed to torpedo his plans, such as Katie Couric's book, which included private messages between her and the disgraced ex-anchor.

These days, the former newsman is spending time with his children and girlfriend of more than three years, marketing exec Shamin Abas.

"Things are going well .. Shamin is perfect for Matt because she is very supportive, but also busy with her own company. She has been traveling for work and he has been tagging along on a few trips. They seem to have a great symmetry," the friend said. "They are serious but they are not living together. She has her own place out in the East End [of the Hamptons]."

Although he's happy in his personal life, Matt romanticizes about his old life.

"I think once you're a journalist, you always are. You can't ever shake that. You're never not uninterested in the news," the source said. "He is at a new normal … he exercises daily. I think he feels like he's got a bit of normalcy in his life. But it's not what his normal was."

An actor who starred opposite Kevin Costner in "Dances With Wolves" was arrested in Las Vegas for sex abuse on Tuesday, Jan. 31, and police say he was a polygamist operating a cult.

Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, who goes by Nathan Chasing Horse, was arrested after a three-month investigation. In a search warrant obtained by the Associated Press and TMZ, investigators alleged that the former actor targeted Indigenous girls without a father figure. He then allegedly groomed and coerced them into having sex with him — the girls were told that  "spirits" insisted they have sex with Nathan so they could join "The Circle," which authorities say was the name of the cult.

The alleged abuse — which included girls younger than 13 — spanned two decades.

Nathan, who played the young Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in the Oscar-winning film, gained a reputation among tribes across the United States and in Canada as a so-called "medicine man." Police said he performed healing rituals and used his position to abuse young Native American girls.

TMZ said Nathan, 46, "recorded his sexual assaults and arranged sexual encounters between his victims and other men who would pay him." Police contend that Nathan would give the young girls emergency contraceptive pills to prevent pregnancies after sex.

The 50-page search warrant claimed that Nathan shared his Las Vegas home with five wives, and they were instructed to take "suicide pills" and prepare for a shootout with police.

Nathan, who appeared in several TV movies, has been accused of human trafficking before. A 2015 warrant in Poplar, Montana, claimed, "Nathan Chasing Horse used spiritual traditions and their belief system as a tool to sexually assault young girls on numerous occasions."

Tuesday evening's arrest is related only to alleged crimes committed in Clark County, Nevada. 

Nathan was booked into jail on charges of child abuse or neglect, sex assault, sex assault against a child and sex trafficking of an adult.

"Baywatch" was once the most-watched television series in the world, and it continues to be viewed all around the world via syndication on streaming services, TV and cable networks. You'd think the stars of the show would be rolling in the dough with residual checks, but you would be wrong — at least in Pamela Anderson's case. 

In fact, despite Amazon purchasing the rights to the show in the United States, Australia and Canada in 2019, Pam is only getting $4,000 a year in residual checks.

While promoting her Netflix documentary, "Pamela: A Love Story," the actress and her son Brandon Lee spoke of her "Baywatch" pay discrepancies, something her son says is criminal.

"When I go back and I even look at past deals and residual checks people would be shocked to find out how people really took advantage of her and took advantage of a young girl making a bad deal on a big show, and she was the biggest star in the world at the time," he told "Extra." "I think a lot of people made a lot of money off that, people are going to have to have their day when we come knocking… when she makes $4,000 a year off of 'Baywatch?' That's a crime."

Along with David Hasselhoff, Pamela was among the most notable names to star on the beachside drama, having portrayed lifeguard C.J. Parker for six years.

"When a big company like [Amazon] buys the rights to the 'Baywatch' box set and she doesn't get a dollar? You tell me if that's right," he adds. "She is 'Baywatch.'"

Pam, however, said she's not really worried about the money.

"I always say, 'You can't take me away from me,'" the 'Barb Wire" actress said. "I'll always find my way."

Still, Brandon argues that his mother deserves to "get what's right."

"If it's your work and your face and your image, you deserve something," he said. "You couldn't get away with that today. There's no actress in the world that that would happen to today."

While Jessica Simpson and her ex Nick Lachey were on a break in 2001, she had a secret romance with a "massive movie star."

She soon discovered that he was involved in a relationship and Jessica was the dreaded other woman.

The "Dukes of Hazzard" star recalled the moment in time during a short story for Amazon called "Movie Star: They Always Say They're Single."

While attending the 2001 MTV Video Music Awards, Jessica first met the "massive movie star" via her bodyguard. 

"He was undressing me with his eyes," she wrote, noting she got the man's phone number but never used it. Instead, she quickly reconciled with Nick.

Jessica and the mystery man met up in 2006 after she and Nick divorced, and a secret love affair began. In the short story, Jessica said she and the man kissed and felt a "warm rush all the way down my body."

Jessica and the movie star began hanging out at nightclubs or friend's homes, and she even walked the stairs of a hotel fire escape to meet him in his room. As the hidden nature of the romance continued, Jessica began to feel "like a call girl" who was only there "to have sex" with the star. Plus, she found out the celebrity had a girlfriend, despite him telling the singer that that romance was "completely over."

She eventually called things off. 

"I didn't care if he was my teenage fantasy come to life, this was not a choice that same girl, my younger self, would be proud of," she wrote. 

Jessica never named the man, but told People magazine, "He is still a movie star!"

Amid backlash for a social media post that many interpreted as anti-vaxx, DC Comics is continuing to stand by Zachary Levi, the star or the "Shazam" franchise.

Last week, Zach publicly came out pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, and many immediately labeled him an "anti-vaxxer." 

The situation began after Moorhouse Group CEO Lyndon Wood asked in a tweet, "Do you agree or not, that Pfizer is a real danger to the world?" Zach replied, "Hardcore agree." Pfizer, of course, was one of the main companies to roll out a COVID vaccine in 2021. 

On Monday, Jan. 30, James Gunn, the new co-head of DC Studios, addressed Zach's tweet and future with the studio. 

"Just real simply: Actors and filmmakers that I work with are going to say things that I agree with and things that I don't agree with," he said, according to Variety. "And that's going to happen. I don't have a list of things that somebody should say because of what I think. And you know, I can't be changing my plans all the time because an actor says something that I don't agree with."

He added, "By the same token, if somebody's doing something morally reprehensible then that's a different story. We have to take all that stuff into account. It's a balance. It's modern world and it's a different place."

Zach's tweet comes less than two months before the release of "Shazam! Fury of the Gods." 

While the 42-year-old hasn't necessarily doubled down on his Pfizer criticism, he attempted to clarify his stance, posting a link to Pfizer's $2.3 billion fraud settlement from 2009. 

"Just one example of what I'm referring to…," he added.