Nicole Daedone (born August 24, 1967[1]) is a convicted felon and American writer. [2] She founded and became the CEO of OneTaste in the San Francisco Bay Area. A federal jury convicted Daedone for the crime of forced labor conspiracy in a scheme enriching herself while subjecting OneTaste members to "economic, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse; surveillance; indoctrination; and intimidation."[3][4]
Daedone's father Joseph Daedone only appeared sporadically in her life. Court records indicate he was repeatedly arrested for sexual abuse of children, including one grandchild.[6]
Nicole Daedone has given conflicting information about her relationship with her father:
She told Gawker journalist Nitasha Tiku that he "he never behaved inappropriately."[7]
Speaking with Ellen Huet, confidants of Daedone said she described Joseph Daedone sexually molesting her.[6]
In a since-deleted blog from 2007, Daedone claimed that she "seduced" her father when she was aged six.[8]
After graduating, she opened an art gallery, worked as a waitress at a pizzeria, stripped at Lusty Lady and escorted.[9] In sex work, she has described a client paying a premium to throttle her.[11] Daedone and associates have described her heavy use of LSD, psilocybin, and methamphetamine in this time period.[11]
Former students of Baranco set up their own practices and groups, among them The Welcomed Consensus. She lived at The Welcomed Consensus, a community formed by former Lafayette Morehouse students, for two years. Lafayette Morehouse and the Welcomed Consensus regarded themselves as "the elite connoisseurs of exquisite gourmet sex."[13]
"The Welcomed Consensus had no desire to be mainstream. But, Daedone had bigger ideas," according to Ken Blackman, a member of Welcomed Consensus and later OneTaste.[13]
Career
Daedone published her first book, Slow Sex, in 2012. Since 2022, she has published a number of books on a range of topics. Daedone draws parallels between slow sex and the Slow Food movement associated with chef Alice Waters.[16] With sex as with food, she says, people can overindulge without getting nourishment, or go from one extreme of consuming mindlessly to the other extreme of self-denial.[17]
OneTaste was cofounded in San Francisco by Nicole Daedone and Robert Kandell. Daedone stated that, prior to starting OneTaste, she had been introduced to so-called Orgasmic Meditation by a man who she variously described as a Buddhist, a monk, and "a cute guy" who said "the best pickup line I'd ever heard".[18][19] OneTaste later trademarked the orgasmic meditation (OM) procedure delivered through the company's classes.[9]
OneTaste originally operated two communal-style "urban retreat" centers, one in San Francisco's Soma District and another in Lower Manhattan.[20] OneTaste then expanded to Los Angeles and London.[21] The company produced media, workshops, weekend retreats, and a coach training program. In 2014, OneTaste was listed as an Inc. 5000 fastest growing company.[22]
Nonprofits
According to author Ellen Huet, Daedone has serially employed a tactic since her time with Welcomed Consensus: using nonprofits for self-serving purposes. Huet describes Daedone and associates founding the organization Fill Up America, ostensibly to collect excess food and clothing from businesses in San Francisco to distribute to the poor. Volunteers told Huet that Daedone and her friends kept prime goods for themselves.[23]
IRS records indicate that Fill Up America organization obtained tax-exempt status and employer identification number (EIN) in 2002.[24] Copies of Form 990 records hosted by ProPublica indicate Fill Up America changed names several times since: in the 2013 tax year its name changed to "OneTaste Foundation"; its website (listed on tax records) featured OneTaste curriculum on orgasm and Orgasmic Meditation.[25][26] In its 2019 filing the name was listed as "Love to Table"; its website did not list a connection to OneTaste.[27][28]
As of 2026[update], the most recent renaming was in tax year 2022, in which the nonprofit's name was changed to "Unconditional Freedom".[29] According to Huet, the organization "teaches spirituality and mindfulness in two California prisons, with a mission statement of “turning prisons into monasteries", but mainly promotes materials authored by Daedone.[30]
Investigation and indictment
In June 2018, Bloomberg Business published a story about OneTaste which included several allegations of misconduct at the company which Daedone led. The article also mentioned that in 2015 the company reached a $325,000 settlement with former employee Ayries Blanck to settle a labor dispute.[31] Five months later, Bloomberg Businessweek published a story that the FBI had begun making an inquiry in to the company.[32] Later publications confirmed the federal investigation and revealed the FBI was investigating for prostitution, sex trafficking, and violations of labor law.[33] The company made $12 million in revenue in 2017.[31] In 2018, OneTaste closed all of their U.S. locations and stopped hosting in-person classes.[21]
In June 2023, a grand jury in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York indicted Daedone and former head of sales Rachel Cherwitz for the charge of conspiracy for forced labor (18 USC §§ 1589(a), 1589(b), 1594(b)). According to the government, Daedone and Cherwitz claimed to be able to help those recover from past sexual trauma or abuse but instead manipulated their victims into debt.[4][34][35]
Former members of the organization testifying about their experience at OneTaste said it "resembled a kind of prostitution ring" where managers frequently ordered staffers to engage in sexual relations with customers.[31] According to NBC News, the company's staffers sometimes were told "to engage in sexual acts they found uncomfortable or repulsive as a requirement to obtain 'freedom' and 'enlightenment' and demonstrate their commitment to OneTaste and Daedone", the indictment claims, and "resistance … was not tolerated".[36] Meanwhile, according to the indictment, OneTaste did not pay promised wages and commissions to members-turned-workers.[36]
In December 2024, Daedone's defense counsel alleged that an FBI agent edited a journal that was to be submitted as evidence in the case.[37] In March 2025, the government dropped their lead witness in the case, Ayries Blanck, after she disclosed that her handwritten journals were partially transcribed from her typewritten journals.[38] Attorneys for Daedone argued that the government's case was flawed and sought dismissal.[39] The trial continued with the journals excluded from evidence.[40]
Trial and presentence imprisonment
During the trial, the New York Times noted that Daedone hired crisis communications specialist Juda Engelmayer, who has previously worked for convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein. The article noted that Engelmayer and Daedone's defense team, "were cheerful, as if there were no greater privilege than being paid handsomely to wage war against people they see as woke and whiny."[41]
At trial several women who worked for OneTaste testified against Daedone. The witnesses described instances of forced labor ranging from sex work with investors to menial tasks such as cooking. A video entered into evidence contained footage of Daedone claiming that rape could be "deflected" if the victim would "turn on 100 percent, because then there is nothing to rape."[42]
On June 9, 2025, a jury voted to convict Daedone and Cherwitz. The Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella, Jr., said, "The jury’s verdict has unmasked Daedone and Cherwitz for who they truly are: grifters who preyed on vulnerable victims by making empty promises of sexual empowerment and wellness only to manipulate them into performing labor and services for the defendants’ benefit. I commend the witnesses who testified at trial notwithstanding the trauma that they experienced at the defendants’ direction. It is my hope that the just conclusion of this process will bring them closure, and that future charlatans think twice about exploiting human beings in this manner."[2][3]
A post-conviction hearing found that Daedone had not met the burden of demonstrating that she should be released pending sentencing. The court remanded Daedone to the custody of the United States Marshals Service.[43][44] She is currently held in Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn and has inmate register number 63699-510.[45]
The Eros Sutras. Vol.4: Relationship. Great Work Publishing. 2024. ISBN978-1-961064-24-9.
Jailbirds in Flight: Everything You’ve Wanted to Know About Enlightenment in Prison but Were Afraid to Ask. Great Work Publishing. 2025. ISBN978-1961064430.
The Eros Sutras. Vol.5: Liberation & Justice. Great Work Publishing. 2026. ISBN978-1961064379.
12"Indictment"(PDF), United States v. Cherwitz (Court Filing), no.1:23-cr-00146, Docket 1, E.D.N.Y., April 3, 2023, retrieved June 10, 2025– via RECAP (PACERcurrent docket view)
12Huet, Ellen (2025). Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult (Kindle). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp.Chapter 1, Chapter 4, Notes on Sources. ISBN978-0374604196.
↑Huet, Ellen (2025). Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult (Kindle). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp.Chapter 4, Notes on Sources. ISBN978-0374604196.
↑Mary Spicuzza (April 4, 2007). "Sex and Sensuality". SF Weekly. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
12Huet, Ellen (2025). Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult (Kindle). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp.Chapter 1. ISBN978-0374604196.
↑Brown, Patricia Leigh; Pogash, Carol (March 13, 2009). "The Pleasure Principle". The New York Times.
↑Huet, Ellen (2025). Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult (Kindle). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp.Chapter 3, Notes on Sources. ISBN978-0374604196.
↑Huet, Ellen (2025). Empire of Orgasm: Sex, Power, and the Downfall of a Wellness Cult (Kindle). Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp.Chapter 20. ISBN978-0374604196.
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