Founder of sexuality-focused women’s wellness company pleads not guilty in forced labor case
An entrepreneur who promoted group “orgasmic meditation” as a road to women’s well-being turned herself in and pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of manipulating traumatized people into debt, undesired sex and underpaid work.
Nicole Daedone, who founded the sex-centric wellness company OneTaste, faces a federal forced labor conspiracy case that was unveiled last week. She was released Tuesday on $1 million bond, secured by her mother, her mother’s partner, and a OneTaste ally; the friend put up a sprawling property in Northern California’s Mendocino County.
“The idea that this woman, at this company, engaged in forced labor is as far from the truth and reality as one could comprehend,” defense lawyer Julia Gatto said outside court. She called Daedone “a ceiling-shattering feminist entrepreneur” who created a unique business around women’s sexuality and empowerment.