'Orgasm Inc's OneTouch Really Did Specialize In 15-Minute Female Orgasms
"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below."
Netflix has had a big year of churning out riveting true-crime documentaries and limited series, from a fictionalized retelling of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's cannibalistic crimes, to films about murderous nurses and creepy stalkers. And the streaming company certainly isn't slowing down with its newest offering, which provides a deep-dive look into a company that has been dubbed an "orgasm cult."
Orgasm Inc: The Story of OneTaste, which dropped on Nov. 5, follows the downfall of a sexual wellness company founded in the early 2000s which "promised spiritual enlightenment and community through 15-minute female orgasms," Netflix says. The company that inspired this doc, OneTaste, is very real, and began in San Francisco, California. OneTaste made a name for itself by teaching its followers the art of "orgasmic meditation" (more on that in a second), but it also got into some hot water after it was investigated for allegations of prostitution and sex trafficking.
"OneTaste built a large client base within San Francisco’s tech bubble, and was hailed by the media as a promising health and wellness outlet that would lead subscribers on a path toward fulfillment," Netflix explains. "However, according to some former members of OneTaste, there was something much more sinister going on behind the scenes."
There’s a *lot* to unpack here. So, here's a breakdown of the new doc and the company that inspired it.
Is Orgasm Inc. based on a true story?
Yep, all of this really happened. OneTaste was founded in 2005 by a woman named Nicole Daedone, and it really did bill itself as a path to fulfillment through the practice of “orgasmic meditation,” per Netflix. And as it turns out, it was pretty popular.
“By 2018, over 35,000 people had participated in our in person events, over 16,000 had taken classes and workshops. Over 1,300 completed our Coaching Program and tens of thousands of people worldwide had learned to OM,” OneTaste’s website reads.
True to the doc, OneTaste ran into some trouble after it had been in business for many years. Specifically, things started to fall apart after Bloomberg wrote a story on the company in 2018, alleging that employees were pressured by management to take expensive courses and go on retreats they couldn’t afford. Some former employees also claimed OneTaste was a “prostitution ring” where staffers were told to have sex with or perform “orgasmic meditation” with each other or clients.
However, there is no record of criminal filings or lawsuits associated with the company, aside from a lawsuit filed against OneTaste by a participant in New York in 2018 claiming sexual abuse and fraud, but the suit was dismissed by a judge in 2019. OneTaste has previously said that "any allegations of abusive practices are completely false," per The Independent.
Bloomberg then reported an FBI probe into the company after the "claims of sex trafficking, prostitution and violations of labor law" surfaced. However, the current status of the 2018 investigation is unclear, and The Daily Beast reported that the bureau never responded to queries about whether their probe was ongoing.
The company has pushed back on these accusations, writing on its website that "in 2018, at the height of our success, we were cancelled by salacious media mischaracterizations propagated by Bloomberg Businessweek, Playboy, VICE, BBC. It appears that these will be repeated on a forthcoming production on Netflix."
What is orgasmic meditation?
The practice, also called OM, was made famous by co-founder Nicole Daedone and OneTaste. OM combines the practices of touching, pleasure, and mindfulness, and involves a specific manual stimulation technique, per Healthline. It usually involves a man using a gloved, lubricated fingertip to stroke a woman’s clitoris for 15 minutes, touching only the upper-left quadrant of the clitoris in an up-and-down motion, Bloomberg and Healthline said.
Fun fact: OM was originally trademarked by OneTaste, but that trademark is now owned by a corporation called OM IM CO.
Where is Nicole Daedone now?
Well, she’s still listed as a founder and CEO, and seems to be based in San Francisco, according to her LinkedIn profile. Recently, Daedone hosted a talk and demonstration for the company in New York City on Nov. 2, the company's website says.
Is OneTaste still in business?
The company has since rebranded, and it looks like it's now called the Institute of Om, per Netflix. You can see its active site here, and the company recently announced a new, downloadable app.
It also shared that new "Intro to OM workshops" would be taking place in Los Angeles and New York City, according to its website.
Netflix is being sued by OneTaste participants.
More than a dozen people who participated in OneTaste sued the streamer over content in Orgasm Inc, claiming that Netflix uses stolen sexually explicit footage, per Page Six. The plaintiffs were asking that the film be released "without 'misappropriated' sexually explicit material that could show them," NBC News reported, and a request for a temporary restraining order went before a judge on Friday, Nov. 5, the day before the doc was set to drop.
The judge ultimately denied the request, according to NBC, and the doc is out now. The outlet reported that the judge said the plaintiffs "offered no evidence that the film includes explicit material showing them...Nor did they show that the film, 'Orgasm Inc.,' could irreparably harm them."
The initial filing from the plaintiffs said that the footage shows “intimate body parts and acts of sexual intercourse,” along with “nudity and intimate touching as part of instruction of OM’s concepts and methods” that were never expected to be revealed outside of the participants' classes," the outlet said.
One of the filmmakers told Tudum that the video was "legally obtained and much was already public and had been distributed by OneTaste themselves, or on YouTube, or in past news reports."
A group also set up a petition last month to stop Netflix's use of the footage, stating that the "material was on several hard drives (covering the period between the mid-2000s and 2016), and sold by a former OneTaste employee to a Netflix producer for money without our knowledge, permission, or consent." Apparently, over 400 people signed on, and the petition says the signatures were sent to Netflix back in September.
The doc dropped on Nov. 5, and is now streaming on Netflix.
You Might Also Like
