Thank you for writing this response coyotelove !!! I am really glad you shared your experience of SSM here. This article is blatantly wrong and extremely misguided.

Love reading this, sheposts!! Feels so brave the way you’re sharing your experience and I feel super connected to you - especially the piece about “I have never met a person that said, “I looked for something because I don’t have anything I want to work on in my life.”” I was definitely a seeker too - trying EVER and…

Except that you totally shamed and blamed and (attempted) to destroy an innocent and peaceful man on a humongous worldwide platform; opened me personally up to vile criticism as well; and hurt a lot of people who really care about this work. (MEN AND women.)

It is so great to read your experience Anika. I couldn’t agree with your point of view more. I don’t feel like you went on too long, unlike the original article.

I’ve been in every “back room” there is to be in and so have many of the other women who have been posting their positive accounts of SSM. It was never the way that it was distorted to seem in this article.

Anna—I am really glad that you published Anika’s email to you. It shows me that you are, at this point, willing to see that perhaps you didn’t have all the facts when you went to print with this article.

This is being said over and over to the women speaking up for Superstar Machine. I don’t know how on earth Anna Merlin’s article could be viewed as anything other than a long, drawn out attack on this group.

You don’t think Anna’s article was an attack on SSM?

Refreshing to hear someone from the other side.

Love seeing you here and reading this, Anika!

In the interest of not arguing over whether or not SSM is a cult or not a cult, I think it’s more important to address the logistics of this scenario as the semantics will just turn into a squabble, really. Like The View and this is Jezebel so let’s not View it up, yo! I’m sorry - that was a stupid joke. Ok so there’s…

Anika! This feels like an amazing testament to your experience. How refreshing after hearing all this sensationalist voyeuristic garbage from 99% of the commenters.

I got an email from Anika Reitman, another former SSM member who disputes some of the claims made by the women I spoke to for this piece. She’s given me permission to print her email — I have edited it lightly but here it is more or less in full.

International has mentored me for 6 years and I’ve been a member of Superstar Machine from day 1 and it’s been amazing and life changing. This article is not at all consistent with my experience. I know all the former SSM members who have been featured in this article and I don’t at all agree with their…

I find this article to be disgraceful. Coming from a side that just is delusional and a desperate attempt to attack someone. I find it disgusting attacking another human being. Repulsive, bad reporting, and just tacky! IT’s like a bad breakup where the woman goes cray cray. The guy says leave me alone. stop texting me…

Everyone responding to this article is engaging in groupthink right now. It’s literally how everything in America works. Bonding over common beliefs and interests, and paying for goods and services. So, it looks like you’re in a cult too.

My girlfriend is in Superstar Machine. I don’t know much about it because I consider it her business. But this feels way,way off. I’ve met about a dozen of her girlfriends who are fellow members, and all of them seemed perfectly well adjusted and normal- except for Katie Arnold. I had no problem with Katie personally,…

Anna, found this fascinating. Would have been so easy to just charge into the cult idea, but right from the title I could see you were exploring this with distance. I’m fascinated with how many people adopted the opinion that this group is a cult, it just shows people are eager for bad news in this world. The fact…

As a current member of Superstar Machine it saddens me to read this and see a woman whom I used to be close with attack something that she knows means a lot to all the women still here. When Katie A left she only contacted me to suggest I leave also. She never shared her experience with me, only sent aggressive…

I am a current member of Superstar Machine and Hot School and damn proud of it! Both of these collectives have helped me invaluably and continue to change my life in the most amazing ways and the results are tangible! I could write a book and probably will at some point;) The women that are saying SSM is a cult are…