OneTaste

in 2024 OneTaste began in 2004 and was cofounded in San Francisco by Robert Kandell and Nicole Daedone. Daedone stated that a man introduced her to orgasmic meditation before she started OneTaste. The Daily Telegraph reported that Daedone changed her description of the man upon retelling the origin story, having portrayed him on different occasions as a Buddhist, a monk, and "a cute guy" who said "the best pickup line I'd ever heard". In a history of the OneTaste organization, Ellen Huet identifies the individual as Erwan Davon, a student at Lafayette Morehouse and its offshoot Welcomed Consensus. OneTaste trademarked the orgasmic meditation (OM) procedure delivered through the company's classes. It originally operated two communal-style "urban retreat" centers, one in San Francisco's Soma District and another in Lower Manhattan. OneTaste then expanded to Los Angeles and London. The company produced media, workshops, weekend retreats, and a coach training program. It owned its own glamping-style retreat center called "The Land" in Philo, California. The space was rented out for events organized by SoulCycle, Louis Vuitton, Samasource, and Giphy. In 2014, OneTaste was listed as an Inc. 5000 fastest growing company. A statement by Eros Platform, a successor to OneTaste, states that Jones "was instrumental in the establishment of OneTaste Inc.". The statement does not deny that Daedone procured sexual partners for Jones, but says that he provided "a safe and entirely consensual adult environment for personal exploration and development." According to Huet, Jones's finances cratered in 2012; Daedone subsequently pressured subordinates to find ways to pay Reese back. OneTaste then began its "Coaching Program" of expensive trainings for accreditations. It also began a boiler room operation using hard sell tactics. Rachel Cherwitz was employed to ensure salespersons met quotas. She encouraged staff to keep notes on students, including ways of exerting pressure (such as noting divorces) for further sales. Women staff referred to as "fluffers" were employed to give single men partners to stroke. According to Huet's sources, fluffers were instructed to maintain plausible deniability about tactics running afoul of prostitution laws. Robert Kandell sold his stake in the company for $1.5 million in 2014. Bloomberg Businessweek published an exposé of the company in June 2018. According to the report, OneTaste offered orgasmic meditation courses for $499 to $16,000, as well as a $60,000 annual subscription that included access to all courses. OneTaste opened a New York facility in autumn 2024, where the company provided orgasmic meditation lessons. In 2025, OneTaste also offered lessons through their Eros Platform website, and CEO Anjuli Ayer announced their intent to adopt a franchise-based business model. == "Orgasmic Meditation" ==

OneTaste marketed educational events (including "seminars, classes, lectures and discussion groups") centered on "orgasmic meditation" (OM). In these events, a clothed and usually male "stroker" stimulates a female "strokee" by softly fingering the upper-left section of her clitoris for a timed 15 minutes. Origins Daedone's former associates concede that "orgasmic meditation" was derived from "deliberate orgasm" (DO), a similar activity marketed by the Welcomed Consensus in videos. Daedone was previously a member of the group. Several women have attested to abusive practices by Welcomed Consensus and its leaders, including Daedone during her tenure. Science Orgasmic Meditation (OM) has been the subject of a series of peer-reviewed studies examining its neurological, psychological, and relational effects. A 2021 study in PLOS ONE found that OM increased interpersonal closeness between partners, with a stronger effect observed among non-romantic dyads. A separate 2021 fMRI study in Frontiers in Psychology found that OM produces a distinct pattern of brain activity resembling both meditation and sexual stimulation, with effects on heart-rate variability consistent with stress resilience. A 2022 FDG-PET neuroimaging study found sustained alterations in the parietal lobe associated with OM practice, suggesting long-term changes in emotional regulation and prosocial behavior. Two 2022 studies published in F1000Research found that over 80% of practitioners perceive OM as a meditative rather than sexual activity, and that 62% of practitioners reported a complete mystical experience during the practice — a rate comparable to the second-highest dose of psilocybin in clinical trials, as measured by the Mystical Experience Questionnaire. A 2023 study in Sexual and Relationship Therapy found that individuals with a history of adverse childhood experiences reported higher arousal following OM, suggesting the structured container may provide a safe context for arousal in trauma survivors. A Phase 1 clinical trial published in Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications in 2025 assessed OM as a meditation practice for individuals with PTSD, finding it safe and associated with a 47% reduction in PTSD symptom scores. Promotion The company markets OM as a mindfulness practice in which both participants focus their attention on the sensation with the stated goal of developing "connective resonance" between themselves. OneTaste euphemistically called stroking and other forms of sexual contact "research", and referred to pairings (including assigned pairings of strangers) as "research partners". According to testimony and evidence heard at the criminal trial of Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz, OneTaste's promotion of "orgasmic meditation" went the extent of it making it a compulsory activity by employees, particularly those in OneTaste communal homes. Victims reported that "Daedone and Cherwitz insisted that employees engage in these sex acts even if they found them disgusting; those who resisted were punished with negative employment consequences, shunning, sexual abuse and threats of physical violence, among other things." According to criminal court case records "men willing to pay for certain courses, typically taught by Daedone, Cherwitz, or other OneTaste leaders, could expect to have their penises stroked or their prostates massaged, or otherwise engage in OM, often by female OneTaste workers." == Controversies ==

Several journalists have compared OneTaste to a cult and pyramid scheme. Testimonials about orgasmic meditation benefits A 2013 article in The Tyee used quotes from Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, a Stanford University-educated psychiatrist and resident of a OneTaste communal house, attesting to medical studies on the benefits of orgasmic meditation. Dr. Lakshmin has since said that her medical background was used to give an air of legitimacy to the group while she was kept ignorant of the inner workings of OneTaste. She left after two years with the group and publicly repudiated her statements of support for the group, which she calls a cult. Accusations of coercive control Ellen Huet, gathering accounts of OneTaste's history, found Nicole Daedone and members of the organization as embracing the label of "cult" through its early years. She insisted on banning the term in OneTaste circles once members began living communally (first in a OneTaste center and then out of a converted warehouse in San Francisco's SoMa neighborhood). In these communal spaces, residents were encouraged by Daedone to stroke one another and have communal sex with other residents and with prospective recruits. In a 2009 New York Times interview, Daedone insisted she does not aspire to guru status, while acknowledging that "there's a high potential for this to be a cult." The Times noted "Daedone, is a polarizing personality, whom admirers venerate as a sex diva, although some former members say she has cult like powers over her followers... Much of the community's tone revolves around Ms. Daedone, a woman of considerable charm, although detractors regard her as a master manipulator." Business model and practices Several media profiles have highlighted OneTaste's questionable business practices. A 2016 episode of the podcast Love + Radio is dedicated to the experience of a woman who had increasingly fraught relations with OneTaste. The Cut suggested that it may be a pyramid scheme. The Frisky described OneTaste as "Landmark Forum for the clitoris." Playboy Magazine compared OneTaste to Scientology and Landmark Forum, saying it had a "pyramidal pricing structure". A week-long training with Nicole Daedone was advertised at $36,000. A 2018 profile in Bloomberg OneTaste suggested exploitative practices, including pressure to spend heavily and go into debt. OneTaste teaches their members that money is just an emotional obstacle. The Bloomberg article was critical of how the company treated its employees and consultants, often pressuring them to take expensive courses, programs, and retreats that drove them into debt. Charity self-dealing According to author Ellen Huet, Daedone brought to OneTaste a tactic from the Welcomed Consensus: using nonprofits for self-serving purposes. Huet describes Daedone and associates founding the organization Fill Up America, ostensibly to collect excess food and clothing from businesses in San Francisco to distribute to the poor. Volunteers told Huet that Daedone and her friends kept prime goods for themselves and used them to subsidize OneTaste's communal houses. Internal Revenue Service records indicate that Fill Up America organization obtained tax-exempt status and employer identification number (EIN) in 2002. Copies of Form 990 records hosted by ProPublica indicate Fill Up America changed names several times since: in the 2013 tax year its name changed to "OneTaste Foundation"; its website (listed on tax records) featured OneTaste curriculum on orgasm and Orgasmic Meditation. In its 2019 filing the name was listed as "Love to Table"; its website did not list a connection to OneTaste. Netflix documentary and SLAPP suit A Netflix documentary film about OneTaste and its controversies, Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste, was released on November 5, 2022. Prior to the release, fourteen former OneTaste members filed a lawsuit against Netflix, seeking a temporary restraining order and the removal of sexually explicit imagery that was allegedly "misappropriated" by a former OneTaste employee. Their request was denied by a Los Angeles judge. According to The Daily Beast, a former OneTaste employee stated that the lawsuit was "a last-ditch effort by OneTaste to protect its reputation" and "may be nothing more than an attempt to silence its victims, some of whom have accused the company of functioning like a cult". The plaintiffs withdrew their lawsuit after the documentary was released with their faces obscured. The lawsuit saw Netflix win a motion under California's anti-SLAPP law to force OneTaste to pay the costs of defending the suit. == Federal investigation and litigation ==

In 2015, OneTaste paid a former employee a six-figure settlement for enduring sexual assault, harassment, and labor law violations. The settlement was confidential until the 2018 Bloomberg report. United States v. Cherwitz In June 2023, a grand jury indicted Daedone and former head of sales Rachel Cherwitz on charges of forced labor conspiracy. Media campaign The New York Times noted that Daedone hired crisis communications specialist Juda Engelmayer, who has previously worked for convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein. The article noted that Engelmayer and Daedone's defense team, "were cheerful, as if there were no greater privilege than being paid handsomely to wage war against people they see as woke and whiny." A report by Vanity Fair found that Engelmayer "reached out" to Frank Parlato Jr., a blogger who ran articles attacking OneTaste as a cult. Following this contact, Parlato's blog changed to defend OneTaste and Daedone while disparaging prosecutors, witnesses, and presiding Judge Diane Gujarati. According to Ellen Huet, Parlato's articles during the course of the trial called the witnesses "stupid," "cowardly," "crybabies," "liars," "regretful narcissists," "losers," and "imbeciles," and mocked one accuser's weight in an article accompanied by photos of her clad in a bikini. A OneTaste member and publicist Marcus Ratnathicam, speaking with the New York Times, said that the organization had "reached out to everyone" but found a particularly receptive audience among right-wing and libertarian media outlets and influencers including Reason.com, Darren Beattie, Roger Stone, and Matt Gaetz. Ratnathicam was later excoriated by the presiding judge for "making faces" at trial witnesses seeking to intimidate them. Pretrial motions In the pretrial phase, the defense claimed that FBI Special Agent Elliot McGinnis, who reportedly led the investigation for five years, undermined the case's integrity by advising witnesses to destroy evidence, mishandling privileged materials, and presenting misleading information in sworn affidavits. However, presiding Judge Diane Gujarati denied a motion to dismiss, ruling that the defense had not sufficiently demonstrated bad faith or that these issues prejudiced the prosecution's case, but did push back the trial, initially scheduled for January 13, 2025 to May 5. On March 17, 2025, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York announced that they would not use a key witness's journals in the case. The witness had falsely presented them as written about the time she was a OneTaste member, but instead had "physically copied the relevant portion of the Handwritten Journals after typing the Typewritten Journals". Prosecutors noted that before the trial, someone leaked discovery materials under a protective order to an attorney associated with OneTaste (but not the criminal trial), who subsequently referenced those materials in a threatening letter to a supervising Assistant U.S. Attorney. The trial started on May 5, 2025. During the trial, former CTO Christopher Hubbard described OneTaste as a "sex cult", and stated that he and Daedone arranged BDSM activities for entrepreneur Reese Jones of Singularity University, involving Jones "either giving or receiving some form of sexual activity" with OneTaste members. Several women who worked for OneTaste testified against Daedone and Cherwitz described instances of uncompensated and forced labor ranging from sex work with investors to menial domestic work including cooking and cleaning. Announcing the verdict, the Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella, Jr. said, "The jury's verdict has unmasked Daedone and Cherwitz for who they truly are: grifters who preyed on vulnerable victims by making empty promises of sexual empowerment and wellness only to manipulate them into performing labor and services for the defendants' benefit." Lawyers for Daedone and Cherwitz told NPR that they intended to appeal the verdict to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Publicist Juda Engelmayer says the verdict "crosses a dangerous line — criminalizing freedom of religion, assembly, expression, and speech." Following the verdict, Judge Gujarati ordered Daedone and Cherwitz remanded to the custody of the United States Marshals Service citing "witness intimidation" activities of OneTaste publicist Juda Engelmayer and OneTaste member Marcus Ratnathicam. On March 30, 2026 Judge Gujarati sentenced Daedone to 9 years imprisonment and Cherwitz to over 6 years. At the sentencing hearing, Judge Gujarati said that Daedone "does not appear to be remorseful". Daedone and Cherwitz are held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn while awaiting their permanent assignment. The Federal Bureau of Prisons lists Cherwitz as inmate register number 62735-510 and Daedone as inmate register number 63699-510. Pursuit of executive clemency In remarks to the New York Times, Daedone's lawyer Jennifer Bonjean has stated that she would "exhaust all avenues to get my client released" and "would of course be hopeful the [Trump] administration would look at the case." Attorney Alan Dershowitz told NBC News that he is lobbying the Trump administration to pardon the convicted OneTaste leaders. == Continuing promotion of orgasmic meditation ==

OneTaste (using the names "Eros Platform" and "Team Nicole") continues to hold events promoting orgasmic meditation with the image and likeness of Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz using social media, virtual reality headsets, computer-generated imagery and large language model text generation. One such event was a dinner promoted on Reason.com with tickets distributed by Eventbrite, featuring an avatar of Daedone. Others on the bill were Reason editor Elizabeth Nolan Brown, activist Topeka Sam and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Vivian Siegel. ==See also==