As two leaders of OneTaste — a sex-focused women’s wellness company centered on “orgasmic meditation” — await sentencing after being convicted on federal charges, attorney Alan Dershowitz told NBC News he plans to lobby President Donald Trump to pardon them.
“I believe this is a miscarriage of justice,” Dershowitz said in a recent interview. “I intend to present the case for clemency directly.”
OneTaste founder Nicole Daedone and former executive Rachel Cherwitz were convicted of forced labor conspiracy in June in federal court in Brooklyn. They are being held at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center and face up to 20 years in prison when they are sentenced on March 30.
Daedone founded OneTaste in San Francisco in 2004, growing it into a multimillion-dollar business that attracted media attention and celebrity interest through its teaching of OM, or orgasmic meditation. That attention shifted after the publication of an article in Bloomberg in 2018 and the release of a Netflix documentary in 2022, “Orgasm Inc.,” which included allegations that OneTaste was involved in emotional and physical abuse.
During the five-week trial, prosecutors argued that the pair manipulated members, some of whom took the stand to describe psychological pressure, financial exploitation and an environment that blurred personal boundaries. The defense has long denied the allegations, maintaining that participants were consenting adults engaged in a lifestyle and wellness movement.
In an interview with NBC News last year, Daedone said, “At OneTaste, we were rooted 100% in consent. If I talk to you about the practice, from the very moment, I would say to you, ‘You can say yes or no,’ and no is a perfectly acceptable answer throughout the practice itself. It’s all based in consent. We had an ethics committee. This is the antithesis of what this company was.”
Dershowitz said that although he does not personally agree with OneTaste’s teachings, he was moved to get involved after reviewing trial materials. He warned that the case could have broader implications.
“As soon as I saw the indictment, I realized that with a few changes of words, this indictment could have been directed against Mormon groups, against Hasidic groups, against various Protestant or Catholic sects,” he said. “There are so many people who join ideological or religious groups, volunteer their time and later become disillusioned. The idea that prosecutors can later say that voluntary participation must have been coercion is extremely dangerous.”
Attorneys for Daedone and Cherwitz say they plan to appeal their convictions after sentencing. Dershowitz said he believes a presidential pardon would be an appropriate remedy if the appeals process does not bring relief.
“We will seek every possible remedy, legal and political,” he said. “This is a federal case, and the president has the ultimate authority. President Trump has uniquely viewed the pardon and commutation power as part of the system of checks and balances.”
He added that the presidential “pardon authority is unlimited” for federal crimes because it is “the only power in government not subject to checks and balances. A president can exercise it at any point.”
Attorneys representing several alleged victims in the case did not immediately respond to NBC News’ requests for comment. New York federal prosecutors declined to comment.
An attorney for Daedone called the case a concerning “prosecutorial overreach” that should alarm every American.
“After a five-year investigation, the government brought a conspiracy charge no one has ever seen before, and did so just months after a Netflix film their own FBI participated in was released,” Jennifer Bonjean said. “At its core, this case turns decade-old regret into a federal crime carrying a potential 20-year sentence.”
Cherwitz’s attorney K Celia Cohen echoed Bonjean’s concerns of government overreach.
“This case raises serious concerns about governmental overreach. The novel conspiracy theory rests on events and perceptions from years ago, and its reliance on retrospective interpretations of consent should give pause. The stakes are significant—not just for my client, but for the broader application of these laws,” she said.
For now, Dershowitz said his focus will be on the broader legal stakes and the timing of any clemency effort.
“The White House has been dealing with enormously serious issues like Iran and other global conflicts,” he said. “Timing is everything when it comes to bringing a case like this to the president’s attention, and we will wait for the appropriate moment.”
