DOJ Won’t Use Journal Evidence in ‘Orgasm Cult’ Sex Trafficking Suit

John Durhamn, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, confirmed in court documents Monday that several journals offered as potential evidence in the sex trafficking lawsuit against OneTaste, the alleged “orgasm cult,” are fake and will not be used in the trial. The decision could delay the lawsuit against former OneTaste CEO Nicole Daedone and former head of sales Rachel Cherwitz.

OneTaste was a wellness venture that grew in popularity in the 2010s. Founded by Daedone, the mission of OneTaste focused on sexual wellness geared towards female pleasure and promoted an experience called orgasmic meditation, or OMs. The West Coast-founded organization drew attention for a viral TED Talk by Daedone, but was haunted by several exposés claiming the orgasmic meditation group coerced employees and participants into a cult that “resembled a kind of prostitution ring — one that exploited trauma victims and others searching for healing,” according to a Bloomberg investigation. These reports led to several media productions focusing on the organization, including the Netflix documentary Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste. “At a certain point, by the time I was leaving, God became synonymous with orgasm, and orgasm was Nicole,” Ruwan Meepagala, a former OneTaste member, said in the Netflix documentary. OneTaste, as well as Daedone and Cherwitz, categorically denied any wrongdoing.

In 2023, authorities charged Daedone and Cherwitz with sex trafficking, and an anonymous employee, known as Jane Doe in the court documents, sued them for allegedly “[using] means of force, threats of force, fraud, and a variety of other forms of coercion” to compel them to “engage in commercial sex acts as a form of forced labor for Defendants,” per the complaint. Doe also accused Daedone and Cherwitz of using OneTaste for “economic, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse, surveillance, indoctrination, and intimidation,” including allegedly requiring employees to participate in unwanted sexual acts to solve conflict or draw in customers. (Daedone and Cherwitz have denied all of the claims. Attorneys for the two women did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone’s requests for comment.)

The recent development revolves around journals from Ayries Blanck, a former OneTaste member, who claimed she had written several diaries around the time she was a part of the group. Blanck initially told investigators over a six year period that she had previously written hardcopy entries that corroborated digital versions, but according to the new court documents, she revealed in 2025 “that she physically copied the relevant portion of the Handwritten Journals after typing the Typewritten Journals,” for the Netflix documentary. While Blanck has continued to assert that the information in her journals was written about real OneTaste practices and around the time that events happened to her, counsel for the government has said they won’t use any of Blanck’s journals in the trial. (Netflix did not respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment; Blanck could not be reached for comment.) 

In a separate filing, attorneys for Daedone and Cherwitz called the journals a “wasted extensive judicial and defense resources” and urged U.S. District Court Judge Diane Gujarati to drop all charges. According to trial reporter Meghann Cuniff, the debate over the veracity of the journals is highlighting “increasingly blurred lines between entertainment and evidence,” especially in cases that are heavily covered by the media. Daedone and Cherwitz are scheduled to begin trial on May 5 in Brooklyn federal court.