OneTaste

OneTaste Incorporated, currently operating as The Institute of OM, is a business sponsoring seminars, classes, workshops, lectures, and discussion groups around the practice of "orgasmic meditation" (OM). In June 2025, a federal prosecution convicted OneTaste leaders Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz (also known as Rachel Pelletier) for the crime of forced labor conspiracy for the mistreatment of its employees. In 2026, Daedone was sentenced to 9 years imprisonment, and Cherwitz received 6.5 years. Nicole Daedone and Robert Kandell founded OneTaste in San Francisco. An open secret of the company was that Reese Jones (of Singularity University) kept the company afloat, providing at least $800,000 from 2007 through 2011. In return, Daedone (Jones's live-in girlfriend) procured the sexual services of OneTaste subordinates for Jones. The company and independent affiliates expanded to multiple cities, including London, Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco, selling educational courses and retreats demonstrating the purported benefits of orgasmic meditation. OneTaste describes orgasmic meditation as an activity in which a participant (usually male) strokes the genital area of a female participant while she concentrates on the resulting physical sensations. OneTaste events demonstrated the technique in front of live audience and employees were instructed to perform and undergo stroking regularly, including from strangers. Over 35,000 people came through the doors of OneTaste for events, classes or to learn the practice of Orgasmic Meditation. Former employees reported enduring stroking under duress including "economic, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse, surveillance, indoctrination and intimidation". In the trial of Daedone and Cherwitz, victims testified to psychological and physiological harms, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. A 2009 New York Times profile was the first national exposure for the company. Daedone received mainstream exposure through publishing a book with Hachette, speaking at a TED Talk and a Goop-sponsored event, as well as...