The conviction of Nicole Daedone and Rachel Cherwitz in June 2025 marked a major milestone for federal prosecutors, but it also triggered the start of a PR counter-offensive. Before a Brooklyn jury found the OneTaste leaders guilty of forced labor conspiracy involving sexual and financial exploitation, a new narrative was being constructed online.
On platforms like the Frank Report, the story was flipped: Daedone was no longer a corporate leader convicted of exploitation, instead she became a culture war martyr. The strategy sought to rebrand OneTaste’s forced labor as “consensual adult sexuality” and frame the prosecution as a woke overreach by a weaponized DOJ. The gaslighting goal was clear: make the case look so politically motivated that it would justify a federal pardon.
The court, however, took notice of the aggressive crisis management campaign. Judge Diane Gujarati referred to the PR shenanigans, which included online attacks on witnesses and the court, as witness intimidation, leading her to deny the defendants bail pending sentencing.
Despite judicial setbacks, the Manufactured Martyrdom campaign continues, proving that in the world of high-stakes crisis management, a guilty verdict is often just the beginning of the spin.
