Empire of Orgasm: Ellen Huet

Join us for a riveting discussion between Empire of Orgasm author Ellen Huet and moderator Kevin Fagan. We will hear of the cautionary tale of sex and salvation for the wellness generation: how orgasmic meditation turned into a cult.

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Empire of Orgasm
OneTaste hoped orgasm would change the world. Emerging in the midst of the late-aughts for-profit wellness boom, the company was unwavering in its faith in orgasmic meditation, or OM, a fifteen-minute practice featuring a woman being clitorally stimulated by a clothed, usually male partner. Nicole Daedone, the group’s magnetic and cunning founder, envisioned a world where OM was as widespread as yoga. But Daedone’s vision came with a price: behind the militant loyalty she inspired and her millions of dollars of sales was what former members describe as a cult of manipulation, abuse, and coercion driven by a relentless quest for control. And by the time the FBI showed up at her door in 2023 with an indictment alleging she conspired to commit forced labor, even Daedone herself was no longer safe.
Building on the viral Bloomberg article that exposed the dark side of OneTaste and Daedone, Ellen Huet’s Empire of Orgasm is a deeply reported and cinematic chronicle of how a boundary-pushing wellness program became a cult that, according to dozens of witnesses, ruthlessly exploited its members. Huet, the undeniable authority on the group, reveals how, in demanding absolute fealty to Daedone as a path to enlightenment and healing, OneTaste pushed its followers past their limits―sexually, emotionally, financially―and left many of their lives in shambles. The story culminates in Daedone's conviction in June 2025 after a five-week criminal trial.

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Ellen Huet is an award-winning investigative journalist who currently writes for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Businessweek. She is the author of EMPIRE OF ORGASM, a new book about OneTaste, a sexual wellness company that’s alleged to be a sex cult.She is also the host of two seasons of the podcast Foundering, a narrative audio series from Bloomberg Technology. One season recounts the rise and fall of WeWork; another chronicles the story of OpenAI and analyzes the trustworthiness of its leader, Sam Altman.
Her work on OneTaste was featured in a 2022 Netflix documentary called Orgasm, Inc., and has been cited in the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Wall Street Journal, Vanity Fair, Slate and many other outlets.
Before working at Bloomberg, she was a staff writer at Forbes and a crime reporter at the San Francisco Chronicle. In general, she holds a particular interest in writing about strange and complex subcultures. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Kevin Fagan is a longtime and award-winning reporter and author, having spent over three decades at the San Francisco Chronicle before leaving in 2025 to pursue book writing. Nominated several times for the Pulitzer Prize, his awards include the national James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism, National Headliner, San Francisco Press Club Bill Workman award, and the John S. Knight Journalism Fellowship at Stanford University. He has covered homelessness, the 9/11 terror attacks, executions, serial killers, California’s wildfires, and much more. Follow him on X @KevinChron.

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