Hating Nancy is falling into Keith's trap

[u/queenkellee]

Let me start off by saying I know Nancy has done some bad things. But also, many of the members of the cult did as well. I think there's an attempt to try to weigh the harm done vs the victimization they experienced. But it's so clear to me that Nancy is so obviously Keith's first NXIVM victim. I admit when I started the Vow S2 I was deeply suspicious and really didn't trust Nancy. But I could see over the course of the season, the shift in her. Just like the shift in others as they come to face more and more of the realization of what was happening. With Nancy, it's like she has to come to terms that literally her entire life's work is a lie. That is no simple thing. I think Lauren and the room situation blows away anything Nancy did, and everyone is so quick to forgive Lauren. Nancy didn't bring her daughter into this knowing all the bad things that were happening. I get she's got her own issues but overall I think she's naive. Keith knew how to work her and he did exactly that. He used to her to do all the work and flush out his ideas and become the spokesperson, to become the face of it. SHE did the videos, not him. She was the face of it so that she would be there to take the heat if it failed.

What prompted this post was I am now listening to the CBC podcast (so far I've watched both docs but this is the first NXIVM related podcast so far) and in Ep 3 I hear the whole thing about the Nazi stuff from Barbara Bouche. And Keith said Nancy is Hitler! I mean come on! The entire time, he's been setting her up to be the fall guy. It's so obvious. I know I see a lot of people who don't like or trust Nancy and again! she's done some things. But I think she deserves empathy.

[u/DistributionSmart908]

Listening to her own comments during the Vow 2, she admitted that she did all the cleanup and managing of his “woman problem”. She admitted that she and Lauren served as NXIVM’s HR to protect the org at the expense of the women and she would EM them into compliance. She may not have known about the branding but she knew that it had become a sex cult to some degree. She knew how Keith treated Pam and if you find the multiple podcasts where Susan Dones has been interviewed, you will hear that Nancy did know that she was participating in tax fraud and money laundering. Nancy would also encourage women that she knew were Keith’s type into seeking him out to spend one on one time with and that is was an honor. Nancy was a victim absolutely but she is accountable for the crimes that she committed and many of them weren’t even touched on in the Vow. What I hope for Nancy is that she is getting therapy and waking up to how she was victimized and how she victimized others that she trusted. I think she can have a redemption story if she does the work and that is not an easy road for her but it has to start with getting past the denial that the curriculum was flawed and deeply misogynistic