Photo: Courtesy of Netflix
More than a dozen people formerly or currently associated with the orgasmic meditation group OneTaste are suing Netflix to halt the release of a documentary set to premiere on Saturday.
Some video clips likely show nudity, they claim.
“From my clients' perspective, one of the biggest problems is that they don’t know whether or not they are in the documentary,” the group’s lawyer, Paul Nicholas Boylan, told PEOPLE. “They filed their lawsuit to encourage Netflix to tell them.”
Boylan says while Netflix assured his clients that there “are no images of them unclothed or engaged in sexual activity in the documentary,” he “cannot help but wonder why Netflix couldn’t have let them know sooner so they could have avoided so much worry.”
“The failure to reassure them when it would have cost Netflix nothing to do so makes me wonder about Netflix’s motives in all of this,” he added.
OneTaste — now rebranded as The Institute of OM — was built around “slow sex” and “orgasmic meditation,” whichBloombergdescribed as a “procedure that typically involves a man using a gloved, lubricated fingertip to stroke a woman’s clitoris for 15 minutes.”
Former group members spoke to the magazine in 2018 and described feeling pressured to participate in sexual activity at OneTaste and falling into debt. (OneTaste’s classes ranged from hundreds to thousands of dollars per session.)
“There was a lot of psychological manipulation,” one former member toldBloombergat the time.
The Federal Bureau of Investigationlaunched a probe into OneTasteshortly after theBloombergreport was published. PerLos Angeles Magazine, the allegations involve sex trafficking, prostitution, and violation of labor laws. No charges were filed in connection with the FBI investigation, and a spokesperson for the group previously denied any wrongdoing.
PerPage Six, the plaintiffs claim in their lawsuit that the Netflix documentary shows “intimate body parts and acts of sexual intercourse,” as well as “nudity and intimate touching as part of instruction of OM’s concepts and methods.”
The footage is of “intimate personal information that they never expected to be revealed outside the context of their OneTaste class,” they say.
Netflix did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Courtesy of Netflix
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“It was important to convey the large numbers of people attending these activities and use the footage to provide context about the culture of the organization,” Gibson added.
According toRolling Stone, Boylan filed for a temporary restraining order in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday to stop the documentary’s release on Nov. 5.
A judge denied their request to stop the release of the film on Friday morning, the day before the premiere.
source: people.com
