Durek admits sex acts with clients during sessions in recordings

I couldn't find it on here. Apologies if it had been posted before. In that case, I will of course delete it (if mods aren't faster ;).

Durek admits to sex with clients in audio messages

November 5, 2024

Last week, Se og Hør was able to tell the story of Swedish Joakim Boström (49), who experienced what he felt was a sexual assault from Durek Verrett (49) during a session with him. Now Se og Hør can reveal that Joakim is not alone in having had such an experience. The shaman himself has admitted this, in sensational audio messages that Se og Hør has now gained access to.

Se og Hør has travelled from Norway to the United States to meet Eric Nies (53) – one of Durek's former close friends. For almost four years, Durek's admissions have weighed on Eric's conscience. Now he will no longer remain silent about what he knows. – I am ready to stop carrying this, he tells Se og Hør seriously. Eric has taken care of Durek's audio messages, from conversations between them in the fall of 2020. Messages that send a chill down Eric's spine when he thinks about them.

Eric Nies has a past in the entertainment industry, and is a familiar name to many. He was on one of the world's first reality series, "The Real World", which debuted on MTV in 1992. He later became a VJ on MTV's dance program "The Grind" and dated Pamela Anderson. But he has put all of this behind him. In recent years, he has concentrated on the more spiritual aspects of life and the world.

It was their shared interests in the spiritual that brought him and Durek together. They met in Malibu in 2012 and became good friends. – I still love him, says Eric. Nevertheless, the two good friends completely fell out four years ago. This happened after two different people had contacted Eric and told about unpleasant sexual experiences during sessions with Durek.

Durek Verrett has been offering private shaman sessions with his clients for years. Eric confronted Durek with the information, because he feared that this was the start of a "Me Too" movement against the famous shaman. The audio messages start with Durek first attacking Eric, and threatening his friend with lawyers. After a while, the conversation changes character, and Durek admits that he has done things he shouldn't have done – of a sexual nature. It eventually becomes clear that this applies to more than the two who have contacted Eric.

– I don't meet every single client and behave sexually towards them, and I have no problem saying that I have crossed the line and made mistakes. I am human, the shaman says in a message.

The reason Eric has these audio recordings is that this is often how Durek communicates. He does not send SMS, email or other forms of written messages – he sends voice messages. The relevant voice messages that Se og Hør has access to are from the conversation between Eric and Durek in 2020.

It was a friend of Eric's whom he had introduced to the shaman, who first came up with disturbing information. – He said that he had experienced something unpleasant of a sexual nature during a session with Durek, Eric tells Se og Hør. Eric went to Durek to talk about this person – Person Y. But Durek said that they had sorted it out, and Eric first made peace with it.

Then another person appeared. This was someone who was originally a client of Durek, and who Durek had then introduced to Eric. Let's call him Person Z. – He came to me and told me about something sexual that had happened between him and Durek. He cried while he was telling the story, says Eric. – This made me start to wonder. Two people told me about things that had happened to them in sessions with Durek, which made them feel uncomfortable. I thought I had to bring it up with him again, says Eric. Offended Durek doesn't like it. It's clear in the messages.

Durek in voice message to Eric: "You are not talking to me from a place of love. You are not thinking about all the wonderful things I have done for you and supported you and been there for you. All you are trying to do is demonize me, he says, among other things."

Eric: "If you want to talk about the real issue here about what happened in your sessions with your clients, who came to me – crying, because they felt violated and abused, then let's talk about that. Because that is what the issue is here!"

Durek: "If you are talking about Person Y, then we have talked about it, and he understands what happened because he was a part of it. And he was the one who started it when he took out his penis in the session and yes, it may not have been the best time. But it was at the end of a session, while he was putting his clothes back on."

The messages go back and forth, and Durek moves from being angry and threatening lawyers, to admitting the events and elaborating on them.

Durek: "I crossed a line when Person Y pulled out his penis. I should never have sucked his penis. I should have just left it there and put the sheet over it. But we were done with the session. I don’t deny my sexual challenges, Eric. I may have made mistakes in the past, yes. And Person Z and I have talked about it, and I don’t do those things anymore. And you know, I’m glad those things happened with Person Z because, as I told him, it helped me look at things within myself. I have no boundaries in some areas where this world wants boundaries, and I get that. But that’s not what I do with every client. I spend most of my time empowering people and speaking to the world about important issues and global problems, like I'm doing in Norway right now for the homeless and for many others."

Eric: "How many people has this happened to, Durek? Now I'm talking to you as your brother, someone who actually cares about you. That's why I've brought this up with you. You should actually think about how many times you've done something like this. I'm actually trying to protect you now, and that's why I've brought it up with you. I care about you and your family, your business and your brand and your future."

And that's when Durek confirms what Eric has begun to suspect – that there are more. The shaman mentions sexual situations with two other male clients, and one with a female client.

Eric: "At first there was just one. A little later there were two. I had no idea about the next three! The only thing I said was: “Are there more?!" And he could have said "no", Eric tells Se og Her.

Durek says that the first man, 'NewYork1', asked Durek out to dinner after he had had a session with him.

Durek in voice message to Eric: "I don't touch people's genitals – And I said I don't do that, I shouldn't do that, it's not OK."

But they end up going to dinner anyway. Durek takes him home, they watch movies and fall asleep, and the next morning they end up “having a little fun,” as Durek calls it in the voicemail.

Durek in voice message to Eric: "He told his girlfriend about what had happened between us, and she said: “Well, he’s a shaman, he probably tricked you with his abilities” and all that."

We can call the other man NewYork2.

Durek in voice message to Eric: "There was a guy in New York, a long time ago. He was struggling with some sexual problems, and he asked me to put my finger under his scrotum because it hurt there. He told his girlfriend, and she said it wasn’t appropriate. He said, “Is it really inappropriate, I don’t know, but I asked Durek to do it.” There’s was also another one, just so you know. There was a woman who came in, who asked me to help with a situation that had happened to her. Her boyfriend had had violent sex with her. And I was standing on the other side of the room helping her clean her vagina. She left, and freaked out, because she felt like a man shouldn't have been in the room with her talking about her vagina and that happened. There was also a famous actor who came in, and he got an erection. And I came back in the room and he was doing it to himself, and I asked him to stop, but he kept going and came all over my couch. And I got really upset, and that's when my team and I put in a clause that people can't do sexual things to me."

In the last messages in the conversation that Se og Hør has received, Durek says that he's glad Eric brought up the topic.

Durek: "Eric, I just want to thank you for bringing these things up with me, and for protecting me and looking out for me. And I appreciate you and am willing to look at this and confront it. I appreciate all of this happening. I call it a coyote moment: The coyote is the trickster, and the one who helps bring things up in a way that allows us to heal them, look at them, confront them and grow, you know, all that. I would like to talk to you more about this, if you are open to it."

But that did not happen. Instead, Eric received a threatening letter from Durek's lawyer. And it would be almost four years before he went ahead with disclosing Durek's admissions of having had sexual contact with clients. "I had to feel ready to talk, and I had to wait until it felt right. Now it does", the 53-year-old tells Se og Hør. Before this confrontation with Durek took place, Eric had signed a so-called non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with him, while they collaborated on projects. It is a contract that means that he is not allowed to speak about the shaman or anything to do with him. But the 53-year-old believes that when someone does something that harms other people, such an NDA does not matter. The American is not worried about Durek suing him. "As I tell Durek in the messages that you've heard, when he threatens me with lawyers: I'm happy to go to court with this. It's interesting to see how it will play out. I'm his friend. We have a completely different relationship than he has with a client. So what does it really mean that I sign an NDA? Does it mean that if I have a cup of coffee with someone and they ask how Durek is doing, I have to answer "Sorry, I can't talk about that, because I've signed an NDA"?!"

Eric has been burdened by Durek's admissions for four years. But now he wants to lighten his load. "The world needs to know what Durek’s intentions are. If he is going to present himself as a healer, as someone who is out there and cares about humanity and about people, it is important that we know if he works with integrity when he works with people", he says.

According to Durek’s website, you can book a private session with him for 2,000 dollars – around 22,000 kroner. But before you receive any healing, you must sign a contract – which states that you accept the touching of genitals during the session.

Eric doesn't believe that type of contract was in place while Durek worked with his clients, including celebrities, for decades in the US. This specific clause about touching the genitals was first reported by Vanity Fair magazine in November 2020, after Eric confronted the shaman about the sexual assault allegations he had heard from former clients. When Dagbladet Børsen reported on the clause in January 2024, Durek explained that the clause was only added to protect him from unfair lawsuits: "No one forgives it – I don't touch people's genitals. But during some sessions I have to work with the lymphatic system, which is located in the lower groin area. It's near the genitals, and my lawyer advised me to include this to protect myself. You know – some people are very eager to sue in the US. I've talked to my lawyer many times about removing that bit, because it sounds so crazy, but she says it should be there for your own protection", he said.

Eric thinks you should think about this clause a little: "Durek does not market himself as a massage therapist or a body worker, but as a spiritual shaman. So why would a client lie on a table, and why would that client take off their clothes, or be physically touched?" he asks. In the voicemails from 2020, Durek admits that he has both had sexual contact with clients, and in one case performed oral sex on one of them, and that he understands that it is wrong.

Durek's former good friend Eric hopes he can contribute to something positive by sharing this. "Hopefully this will inspire and give courage to others, so that they come forward with their stories. And then I think of everyone who has experienced sexual abuse by someone – especially in the spiritual environment. It is time to come forward", says Eric.

https://www.seher.no/kjendis/innrommer-sex-med-klienter/82179851