267. ”I Joined a Sex Cult”: Star Stone on Onetaste, Toxic Empowerment & Cult Culture

NYC-based comedian, actor, and storyteller Star Stone (@starstonespeaks) joins us to talk about the years she spent inside Onetaste, a Bay Area "sexual wellness" group that built a multi-million dollar operation around a 15-minute clitoris stroking practice and is now better known for being investigated by the FBI. Star takes us through the sex education gap that primed her for it, the relationship that kept her there, the empowerment language that quietly turned coercive, and the long road back to her own desires. 

In this episode:

• Why Star (and basically every millennial woman) ended up Googling her own anatomy in her 20s, and how that vacuum is exactly what predatory communities count on
• How "edge work" gets weaponized: when "lean into your edge" becomes a way to talk you past your own no, and what to listen for before you sign anything
• The exact red flags Star wishes she'd clocked sooner (absolute promises, paywalls disguised as inner circles, "you're blocked, that's why you need the course," and the universal cult truth: there's always land)
• What actually happened inside Onetaste: the practice, the paid intros, the group rooms, the moment the FBI investigation quietly ended in-person practices and nobody told the members
• Toxic empowerment versus the real thing: how organizations dress up dependency as liberation, and how to spot the difference before they have your money and your nervous system
• Getting out: the eviction, calling her dad, going viral and getting hated online days after leaving, and the five years of celibacy and self-isolation that followed
• Rebuilding a sexual identity from scratch when you can't tell anymore which desires were yours and which were normalized inside the group

For anyone who's ever wondered how smart, curious women end up in places like this, and for anyone trying to tell the difference between a teacher and a trap. Star's show CL*T CULT runs June 3rd at 7 p.m. at The Pit NYC, tickets at starstonespeaks.com or @starstonespeaks on Instagram.

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