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St. Louis Man Sues HBO Over NXIVM Series The Vow | St. Louis Metro News | St. Louis

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click to enlarge Screen grab of Marc Elliot speaking to Keith Raniere from The Vow.
A St. Louis man who was featured in the documentary series The Vow is now suing HBO as well as the series’ producers and directors.
Marc Elliot filed the lawsuit Tuesday in St. Louis City Circuit Court seeking more than $75,000 in damages, claiming that the filmmakers used a recording of a phone call he made without his consent.
Over the course of two seasons, The Vow told the story of the NXIVM cult, its leader Keith Raniere and his numerous victims. Key members of the group included Smallville actress Allison Mack and Seagrams beverage heiress Clare Bronfman. In 2019, Raniere was found guilty of racketeering, sex trafficking and other charges. He is currently serving a 120-year prison sentence. The NXIVM saga received significant media attention, including several books, an E! True Hollywood Story, a Law and Order “ripped from the headlines” episode and a Starz docu-series and in addition to the HBO one.Elliot features heavily in the third episode of The Vow’s second season, which focuses on NXIVM’s purported treatment of Tourette’s syndrome. Elliot claims NXIVM’s talk therapy and “self-help courses” helped him overcome the condition.
The phone call at the center of his lawsuit is between Elliot and a woman named Isabella Constantino, who was fleeing NXIVM because she was freaked out that Raniere’s female followers were branded with Raniere’s initials. The docu-series portrays Elliot as trying to convince her to reconsider leaving the group.
Elliot’s lawsuit alleges that although he did sign a release for the filmmakers in 2020, it only covered footage of him taken beginning that July, which was two years after the phone call.
When Constantino was on the phone with Elliot, she was in New York, a state with a “one-party consent” law for recording phone calls. That means that only one person on the call needs to be aware it is being recorded. However, whether HBO would have the right to use that call is a different question — and the one at the center of Elliot’s suit. He argues that the producers “knew that Plaintiff did not consent to the recording and did not waive any right to privacy in his voice, name and identification for the commercial use of the recording either by video or audio production.” In the suit, which he filed on his own behalf, Elliot argues that its inclusion violates his right to privacy.
Elliot continues to steadfastly defend Raniere in the wake of his prison sentence and credit NXIVM with curing his Tourette’s syndrome. Earlier this year, Elliot appeared on an episode of the H3 Podcast arguing for Raniere’s innocence.
The host of the podcast, Ethan Klein, was not convinced.
“I don’t even blame you, because honestly, in a sense, you’re kind of the victim. You’re part of this organization that clearly has this powerful hold over you,” said Klein. “Keith is gone. He can’t hurt you anymore. You’re free, bro.”
In an interesting local connection, one of the experts that Elliot has put forth as an expert speaking to problems with the case against Raniere is Ronald Sullivan Jr., a Harvard law professor who also represented Kim Gardner amid the quo warranto proceedings attempting to remove her from office.
Previously, in October 2021, Elliot filed a $12 million defamation lawsuit in California against Starz over their Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult. Last November, a judge ruled against Elliot in that suit.
Elliott is from St. Louis and graduated from Washington University in 2008, according to his LinkedIn. Court records list his current address in the DeBaliviere Place neighborhood.
We welcome tips and feedback. Email the author at [email protected] or follow on Twitter at @RyanWKrull. Subscribe to Riverfront Times newsletters.Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Or sign up for our RSS Feed
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Fenton Man Charged in Sword Attack on Roommate

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A warrant is out for a Fenton man’s arrest after he allegedly attacked his roommate with a sword.
Police say that on Sunday, Angelus Scott spoke openly about “slicing his roommate’s head” before he grabbed a sword, raised it up and then swung it down at the roommate.
The roommate grabbed Scott’s hand in time to prevent injury. When police arrived at the scene, they found the weapon used in the assault.
The sword in question was a katana, which is a Japanese sword recognizable for its curved blade.
This isn’t the first time a samurai-style sword has been used to violent effect in St. Louis. In 2018, a man hearing voices slaughtered his ex-boyfriend with a samurai sword. His mother said he suffered from schizoaffective disorder.
As for Scott, 35, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office was charged yesterday with two felonies, assault first degree and armed criminal action. The warrant for his arrest says he is to be held on $200,000 bond.
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Caught on Video, Sheriff Says He’s Ready to ‘Turn It All Over’ to Deputy

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Video of St. Louis Sheriff Vernon Betts taken by a former deputy suggests that the sheriff has a successor in mind to hand the reins of the department over to, even as Betts is in an increasingly heated campaign for reelection.
“I ain’t here for all this rigmarole,” Betts says in the video while seated behind his desk at the Carnahan Courthouse. “The Lord sent me here to turn this department around and I’m doing the best I can and I think I’ve done a good job. I’ve got about eight months and I’m going to qualify for my fourth pension.”
He goes on, “Right now I can walk up out of here and live happily ever after and forget about all this…and live like a king.”
The sheriff then says his wife has been in Atlanta looking at houses and that the other deputy in the room, Donald Hawkins, is someone Betts has been training “to turn it all over to him.”
Asked about the video, Betts tells the RFT, “My future plans are to win reelection on August 6th by a wide margin and to continue my mission as the top elected law enforcement official to make St. Louis safer and stronger. Serving the people of St. Louis with integrity, honor and professional law enforcement qualifications is a sacred responsibility, and I intend to complete that mission.”
The video of Betts was taken by Barbara Chavers, who retired from the sheriff’s office in 2016 after 24 years of service. Chavers now works security at Schnucks at Grand and Gravois. Betts’ brother Howard works security there, too.
Chavers tells the RFT that she was summoned to Betts’ office last week after Betts’ brother made the sheriff aware that she was supporting Montgomery. It was no secret: Chavers had filmed a Facebook live video in which she said she was supporting Betts’ opponent Alfred Montgomery in the election this fall. “Make the judges safe,” she says in the video, standing in front of a large Montgomery sign on Gravois Avenue. “They need a sheriff who is going to make their courtrooms safe.”
In his office, even as Chavers made clear she was filming him, Betts told Chavers he was “flabbergasted” and “stunned” she was supporting Montgomery.
“I don’t know what I did that would make you go against the preacher man,” he says, referring to himself. He then refers to Montgomery as “ungodly.”
Betts goes on to say that not long ago, he was walking in his neighborhood on St. Louis Avenue near 20th Street when suddenly Montgomery pulled up in his car and, according to Betts, shouted, “You motherfucker, you this, you that. You’re taking my signs down.”
Montgomery tells the RFT that he’s never interacted with Betts outside of candidate forums and neighborhood meetings.
“I don’t think anyone with good sense would do something like that to a sitting sheriff,” Montgomery says.
Montgomery has had campaign signs missing and on at least two occasions has obtained video of people tearing them down. (Chavers notes that the sign that she filmed her original Facebook video in front of is itself now missing.)
One man who lives near Columbus Square says that he recently put out two Montgomery signs, which later went missing. “If they keep taking them, I’ll keep putting them up,” he said.
Betts says he has nothing to do with the missing signs. In the video Chavers filmed in Betts’ office, Betts says that his campaign isn’t in a spot where it needs to resort to tearing down opponents’ signs.
“If you sit here long enough, a man is getting ready to come across the street from City Hall bringing me $500, today,” Betts says. “I’m getting that kind of support. I don’t need to tear down signs.”
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St. Louis to Develop First Citywide Transportation Plan in Decades

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The City of St. Louis is working to develop its first citywide mobility plan in decades, Mayor Tishaura Jones’ office announced Tuesday. This plan seeks to make it easier for everyone — drivers, pedestrians, bikers and public transit users — to safely commute within the city.
The plan will bring together other city projects like the Brickline Greenway, Future64, the MetroLink Green Line, and more, “while establishing new priorities for a safer, more efficient and better-maintained transportation network across the City,” according to the release.
The key elements in the plan will be public engagement, the development of a safety action plan, future infrastructure priorities and transportation network mapping, according to Jones’ office.
The overarching goals are to create a vision for citywide mobility, plan a mixture of short and long-term mobility projects and to develop improved communication tools with the public to receive transportation updates. In recent years, both people who use public transit and cyclists have been outspoken about the difficulties — and dangers — of navigating St. Louis streets, citing both cuts to public transit and traffic violence.
To garner public input and participation for the plan, Jones’ office said there will be community meetings, focus groups and a survey for residents to share their concerns. The city will also be establishing a Community Advisory Committee. Those interested in learning more should check out at tmp-stl.com/
“Everyone deserves to feel safe when getting around St. Louis, whether they’re driving, biking, walking or taking public transit,” Jones said in a news release. “Creating a comprehensive transportation and mobility plan allows us to make intentional and strategic investments so that moving around St. Louis for jobs, education, and entertainment becomes easier, safer and more enjoyable.”
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