India Riven Oxenberg (born June 7, 1991) is an American actress and documentary film producer. A granddaughter of
Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia
Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia ( sr, italic=yes, Jelisaveta Karađorđević / Јелисавета Карађорђевић; born 7 April 1936) is a member of the royal House of Karađorđević, a human rights activist and a former presidential ...
, she is a relative of the
House of Karađorđević
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...
, the former royal family of
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
and, later,
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
. Oxenberg began her career as a child actress, with small roles in film and television projects that her mother,
Catherine Oxenberg
Catherine Oxenberg (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Amanda Carrington on the 1980s prime time soap opera ''Dynasty''. Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and Howard Oxe ...
, and then-stepfather,
Casper Van Dien
Casper Robert Van Dien Jr. (born December 18, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his lead role as Johnny Rico in the 1997 science-fiction action film ''Starship Troopers''. He has also appeared in a large number of television and ...
, were involved in. As a teenager, she was a cast member of the reality television series ''
I Married a Princess
''I Married a Princess'' is a 2005 reality show on the Lifetime TV network that starred Catherine Oxenberg and her husband Casper Van Dien. The show's slogan is "under the tiara and behind the shades - a real life look at a fairy-tale family." ...
''.
From 2011 to 2018, Oxenberg was involved in
NXIVM
NXIVM () is the name commonly used to describe the personality cult of imprisoned racketeer and sex offender Keith Raniere. NXIVM is also the trademarked name of the defunct corporation that Raniere founded, which provided seminars and videos ...
, an American multi-level marketing company that was later exposed as a cult. While in NXIVM she was introduced to a secret group "
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicatio ...
" and was groomed to be a sexual partner of NXIVM's founder,
Keith Raniere
Keith Allen Raniere (; born August 26, 1960) is an American criminal convicted for a pattern of racketeering activity including human trafficking, sex offenses, and fraud. He co-founded NXIVM, a purported-self-help multi-level marketing com ...
. In 2020, she published the book ''Still Learning: A Memoir''. She also produced and stars in the documentary series ''
Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult'', which details her time in the cult.
Early life and family
Oxenberg was born on June 7, 1991, to actress
Catherine Oxenberg
Catherine Oxenberg (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Amanda Carrington on the 1980s prime time soap opera ''Dynasty''. Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and Howard Oxe ...
and William Weitz Shaffer.
Oxenberg's father was arrested in 1992 for smuggling
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
from Thailand, reportedly profiting $50 million from drug trading.
Her maternal grandparents are
Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia
Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia ( sr, italic=yes, Jelisaveta Karađorđević / Јелисавета Карађорђевић; born 7 April 1936) is a member of the royal House of Karađorđević, a human rights activist and a former presidential ...
and Howard Oxenberg, a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
dress manufacturer.
As a great-granddaughter of Prince Regent
Paul of Yugoslavia
Prince Paul of Yugoslavia, also known as Paul Karađorđević ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Pavle Karađorđević, Павле Карађорђевић, English transliteration: ''Paul Karageorgevich''; 27 April 1893 – 14 September 1976), was prince regent o ...
(Elizabeth's father), Oxenberg is a descendant of the
House of Karađorđević
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...
, which ruled Serbia and Yugoslavia. Oxenberg is also a relative of the
British royal family, the
Danish royal family
The Danish royal family is the dynastic family of the monarch. All members of the Danish royal family except Queen Margrethe II hold the title of ''Prince/Princess of Denmark''. Dynastic children of the monarch and of the heir apparent are accor ...
, and the
Greek royal family
The Greek royal family (Greek: Ελληνική Βασιλική Οικογένεια) is a branch of the Danish royal family, itself a branch of the House of Glücksburg, that reigned in Greece from 1863 to 1924 and again from 1935 to 1973. Its ...
through her great-grandmother,
Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark
Princess Olga of Greece and Denmark ( el, Όλγα; 11 June 1903 – 16 October 1997) was a Greek princess who became princess of Yugoslavia as the wife of Prince Paul, Regent of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Princess Olga was a daughter of Princ ...
.
She is a niece of writer and fashion designer
Christina Oxenberg
Christina Oxenberg (born December 27, 1962) is an American writer, humorist, and fashion designer. She has written seven books, and her writing has been featured in magazines and publications like '' Allure'', ''The Sunday Times'', ''Huffington ...
.
She grew up in
Malibu, California
Malibu ( ; es, Malibú; Chumash: ) is a beach city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. It is known for its Mediterranean climate and its strip of the Malibu ...
, and graduated from
Malibu High School
Malibu High School (MHS) is a public high school in Malibu, California. The school is one of three high schools in the Santa Monica–Malibu Unified School District and serves students in the city of Malibu and surrounding communities.
Location
T ...
.
In 2008, Oxenberg was
presented to society at
Le Bal des débutantes at the
Hôtel de Crillon
Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel () is a historic luxury hotel in Paris which opened in 1909 in a building dating to 1758. Located at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, the Crillon, along with the Hôtel de la Marine, is one of two identical st ...
in Paris.
She was one of two members of the Karađorđević dynasty to make her debut at Le Bal that year, alongside her cousin Victoria de Silva, the daughter of
Princess Katarina and
Sir Desmond de Silva
Sir George Desmond Lorenz de Silva, (13 December 1939 – 2 June 2018) was a British criminal law barrister and international lawyer who served as the United Nations Chief War Crimes Prosecutor in Sierra Leone.
Early life
Desmond de Silva was ...
.
Acting career
Oxenberg's first film was the 2001 television drama ''
The Miracle of the Cards
''The Miracle of the Cards'' is 2001 American made-for-television drama film distributed by Cloud Ten Pictures. It starred Kirk Cameron, Karin Konoval, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Wingfield and Richard Thomas. It first aired on November 10, 2001 on ...
''. In 2002, Oxenberg played the role of Mattie in the science fiction television film ''The Vector File''.
Oxenberg was a cast member on the 2005
Lifetime reality television series ''
I Married a Princess
''I Married a Princess'' is a 2005 reality show on the Lifetime TV network that starred Catherine Oxenberg and her husband Casper Van Dien. The show's slogan is "under the tiara and behind the shades - a real life look at a fairy-tale family." ...
'', which followed her family while her mother was married to Casper Van Dien.
That year, she also had minor role in the video game adaptation of the film ''
Starship Troopers
''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of F ...
'' and a role in the
Syfy
Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...
original movie ''
The Fallen Ones
''The Fallen Ones'' is a Sci Fi Channel original movie from 2005.
Plot
Five thousand years ago, in Sumer, the fallen angels had intercourse with human females and their offspring were a race of giants called Nephilim, destroyed by the great flo ...
''.
In 2009, she had a small role in the Disney film ''
Princess Protection Program
''Princess Protection Program'' is a 2009 Disney Channel Original Movie, directed by Allison Liddi-Brown and starring Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez. The script was written by Annie DeYoung from a story by Annie DeYoung and David Morgasen. The fil ...
''. In 2012, she portrayed a Pixie Teammate in the comedy film ''
Noobz''.
NXIVM
Upon leaving college after one year, Oxenberg attended a self-help entrepreneurship course hosted by
NXIVM
NXIVM () is the name commonly used to describe the personality cult of imprisoned racketeer and sex offender Keith Raniere. NXIVM is also the trademarked name of the defunct corporation that Raniere founded, which provided seminars and videos ...
with her mother at the recommendation of a family friend.
They started the program together, but Oxenberg's mother later left.
She was mentored by
Sarah Edmondson
Sarah Edmondson (born June 22, 1977) is a Canadian actress and podcaster. She is known for supporting roles on Hallmark, and as voice actress in Geronimo Stilton and as “Lina” in the Bratz movies.
Edmondson is a former member of NXIVM, a no ...
, Mark Vicente, and
Bonnie Piesse
Bonnie Piesse (born 10 August 1983) is an Australian actress and singer. Her breakthrough role was playing a trapeze artist in the Australian children's television series ''High Flyers'' at the age of 15 and not long after that she was scouted ...
.
In January 2015, after five years in NXIVM, Oxenberg was approached by
Allison Mack
Allison Christin Mack (born July 29, 1982) is an American actress. She played Chloe Sullivan on the superhero series ''Smallville'' (2001–2011) and had a recurring role on the comedy series '' Wilfred'' (2012–2014).
Mack was a member of N ...
about joining a secret sorority, "
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicatio ...
".
In DOS, Mack became a mentor to Oxenberg.
Oxenberg was instructed to provide personal family secrets and pose for nude photographs for Mack, who also limited the amount of food Oxenberg could eat and required her to cook and clean for her while living with Mack in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...
.
Throughout this process, Oxenberg was reportedly groomed to become a sexual partner for NXIVM's founder and the leader of DOS, Keith Raniere.
She was one of multiple women in the organization who became Raniere's sexual partners.
In January 2016, Oxenberg was held down and branded with the initials of Raniere.
She was told, at the time, that the brand was a representation of the "elements" and was unaware that it was actually Raniere's initials.
Oxenberg left NXIVM in 2018.
While Oxenberg was involved in NXIVM, her mother Catherine tried to get her out of the organization and expose the cult through media in 2017.
In 2018, Catherine wrote the book ''Captive: A Mother's Crusade to Save Her Daughter from a Terrifying Cult''.
In 2019, Catherine produced the
Lifetime television movie ''
Escaping the NXIVM Cult: A Mother's Fight to Save Her Daughter''. Oxenberg officially left NXIVM in the summer of 2018 and moved back to Malibu with her mother.
Oxenberg's time in the cult was discussed in the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
2020 documentary ''
The Vow''. Oxenberg produced and starred in the 2020
Starz
Starz (stylized as STARZ since 2016; pronounced "stars") is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Lions Gate Entertainment, and is the flagship property of parent subsidiary Starz Inc. Programming on Starz consist ...
documentary series ''
Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult''. The documentary details her life while she was an active member in NXIVM.
In 2020, she also published the memoir ''Still Learning: A Memoir'', which revisits the emotional, physical, and sexual abuse she endured as a member of NXIVM, and her steps to recovery.
Oxenberg had her NXIVM brand covered up with a tattoo of a
mandala
A mandala ( sa, मण्डल, maṇḍala, circle, ) is a geometric configuration of symbols. In various spiritual traditions, mandalas may be employed for focusing attention of practitioners and adepts, as a spiritual guidance tool, for e ...
and the inscription "ancora imparo" (i'm still learning) by a tattoo artist in New York City's
East Village.
Personal life
In 2018, Oxenberg met Patrick D'Ignazio, a chef, while working as a manager for a restaurant in New York City.
They got engaged in October 2019 and were married in December 2020.
They live in Los Angeles, near
Venice Beach
Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California.
Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by ...
.
Filmography
* ''
The Miracle of the Cards
''The Miracle of the Cards'' is 2001 American made-for-television drama film distributed by Cloud Ten Pictures. It starred Kirk Cameron, Karin Konoval, Catherine Oxenberg, Peter Wingfield and Richard Thomas. It first aired on November 10, 2001 on ...
'' as a stand-in (2001)
* ''The Vector File'' as Mattie (2002)
* ''
I Married a Princess
''I Married a Princess'' is a 2005 reality show on the Lifetime TV network that starred Catherine Oxenberg and her husband Casper Van Dien. The show's slogan is "under the tiara and behind the shades - a real life look at a fairy-tale family." ...
'' as herself (2005)
* ''
Starship Troopers
''Starship Troopers'' is a military science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. Written in a few weeks in reaction to the US suspending nuclear tests, the story was first published as a two-part serial in ''The Magazine of F ...
'' (2005)
* ''
The Fallen Ones
''The Fallen Ones'' is a Sci Fi Channel original movie from 2005.
Plot
Five thousand years ago, in Sumer, the fallen angels had intercourse with human females and their offspring were a race of giants called Nephilim, destroyed by the great flo ...
'' as kitten wrangler (2005)
* ''
Princess Protection Program
''Princess Protection Program'' is a 2009 Disney Channel Original Movie, directed by Allison Liddi-Brown and starring Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez. The script was written by Annie DeYoung from a story by Annie DeYoung and David Morgasen. The fil ...
'' as herself (2009)
* ''
Noobz'' as Pixie teammate (2012)
* ''
The Vow'' as herself (2020)
* ''
Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult'' as herself (2020)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oxenberg, India
Living people
1991 births
21st-century American actresses
American debutantes
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American people of Serbian descent
American child actresses
American documentary film producers
American film actresses
American television actresses
American women memoirists
American memoirists
Debutantes of le Bal des débutantes
Film producers from California
Karađorđević dynasty
NXIVM people
Participants in American reality television series
Actresses from Malibu, California
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
American women documentary filmmakers
American people of Danish descent