OneTaste seeks Trump ally pardon for founders convicted of forced labor

OneTaste, the San Francisco sexual wellness company once built around so-called orgasmic meditation, is now trying to convert political proximity into clemency. After a federal jury in Brooklyn convicted founder Nicole Daedone and former sales chief Rachel Cherwitz of forced labor conspiracy, the company has begun courting allies of President Trump as it seeks pardons for both women.

The case has already produced some of the harshest punishment in the short history of the company’s criminal fallout. U.S. District Judge Diane Gujarati sentenced Daedone to nine years in prison and Cherwitz to 78 months in late March 2026, after a five-week trial in which prosecutors said the women used abuse and manipulation to exploit women for OneTaste’s financial benefit. Prosecutors also said Daedone was ordered to forfeit $12 million, and seven victims were awarded about $887,877.64 in restitution.

The clemency push has pulled in Harvard law professor and Trump ally Alan Dershowitz, who has said he plans to seek a pardon for Daedone and Cherwitz if appeals fail. That makes the OneTaste case more than another post-conviction lobbying effort. It is a test of how a disgraced brand can try to repackage itself for a political environment where personal access, cultural signaling and loyalty politics can matter as much as the underlying record of a criminal case.

Founded in 2004, OneTaste presented itself as a sexual empowerment and wellness business, but federal prosecutors said the victims were offered healing and liberation while receiving coercion instead. Former members have described the company as a sex cult, and the label stuck after Netflix’s 2022 documentary, Orgasm Inc.: The Story of OneTaste, brought the allegations to a wider audience. The film focused on 15 years of the company under Daedone’s leadership and on claims that included sex trafficking, prostitution and labor violations.

OneTaste fought back by suing Netflix over the documentary, but a California appeals court later upheld dismissal of the case. Even so, the public record now runs in two directions at once: a federal conviction backed by a jury, judge and restitution order on one side, and a pardon campaign built around Trump-world access on the other. That contrast is what makes OneTaste a revealing early test of the clemency influence economy, where convicted figures try to turn notoriety, branding and culture-war framing into a second chance.