Anti-LGBTQ troll claiming credit for the term “groomer” is friends with a well-known sex cult member

After claiming credit for popularizing the term “groomer” as a slur applied to the LGBTQ community, writer and “free speech advocate” James Lindsay is trying to suppress a photo of himself with a member of the notorious NXIVM sex cult.

According to The Daily Dot, actress Nicki Clyne, who was a member of NXIVM and reportedly continues to defend the organization, posted a photo of herself with Lindsay on Twitter last April. The suggestive image shows the two with their legs spread wide. “I taught him everything he knows,” Clyne tweeted along with the photo.

“LOL advanced studies,” Lindsay replied at the time, along with another photo of the two.

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Clyne and her wife, actress Allison Mack were reportedly involved in NXIVM founder Keith Raniere’s inner circle. In 2019, Raniere was convicted of racketeering charges that included the sexual exploitation of a child and sex trafficking of women. Mack, whose marriage to Clyne was reportedly a sham, pled guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges and was sentenced in 2021 to three years in prison. Clyne has not been charged with any crimes.

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Clyne’s tweet was recently resurfaced by the Twitter account of the 2014 documentary An Open Secret, which investigated child sexual abuse in the film industry. As The Daily Dot notes, Clyne and Lindsay posted the photos years after the NXIVM case became public knowledge, and the two have interacted on Twitter as recently as this past weekend.

Reminder that James Lindsay loves hanging out with the former right-hand lieutenant to NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere, who is currently in prison for child sex trafficking @conceptualjames is a coward and fraud who immediately blocked us for politely suggesting research pic.twitter.com/wF1PUahleE

— An Open Secret (@AnOpenSecret) November 27, 2022

“James Lindsay just loves hanging out with the former right-hand lieutenant to NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere, who is currently in prison for child sex trafficking,” the @AnOpenSecret account tweeted.

James Lindsay just loves hanging out with the former right-hand lieutenant to NXIVM sex cult leader Keith Raniere, who is currently in prison for child sex trafficking @conceptualjames will instantly block you for asking any questionshttps://t.co/2NME9CHwVB pic.twitter.com/JMyV1rn3Vi

— An Open Secret (@AnOpenSecret) November 27, 2022

Over the weekend, Lindsay called on his Twitter followers to report any accounts that reposted the photos. He accused the @AnOpenSecret account of “falling for Leftist propaganda and participating in their smears.”

Replying to a tweet questioning the optics of the photo, Lindsay wrote, “I don’t care. Optics are fake.”

Lindsay was banned from Twitter this summer after the social media company began enforcing its ban on the term “groomer” under its Hateful Conduct policy. However, his account appears to have been reinstated since Elon Musk took over Twitter. Since returning to the platform, he has repeatedly tweeted “Ok groomer,” the very same words that got him banned in July.

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