Sheppard respond to ‘Geronimo’ use in sex slave cult video

Sheppard’s 2014 global hit ‘Geronimo’ has had its sync use in movies as Paper Planes, Alvin And The Chipmunks: The Road Chip and 3D animation series Alpha and Omega.

But the Brisbane-based outfit is furious that the track was used in a Stan-streaming four-part documentary about the controversial US sex cult NXIVM.

George Sheppard has asked their managers Michael Chugg and Andrew Stone to have it removed.

“We haven't and would never have allowed our music to be featured by NXIVM in their promotional video, and we were not approached by the documentary to have this unauthorised usage featured in the program.

“It goes without saying that the allegations and charges surrounding the NXIVM cult are reprehensible and in no way would we want our music associated with such an organisation or for it to be implied by the documentary makers that we have approved this usage.”

Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult is about the new age organisation formed in Albany, New York, in 1998 by Keith Raniere.

The 60-year old was in October sentenced to 120 years behind bars after being convicted of racketeering, sex trafficking and child pornography possession - among other crimes.

He recruited women, some underaged, as slaves, branded their pelvic areas with his initials in filmed ceremonies, and forced them to have sex with him and have abortions.

US authorities began investigating NXIVM – pronounced nexium – after an explosive investigative report by The New York Times in 2017.

Raniere left the US immediately after the story was published and was arrested in his luxury villa in Mexico, and maintained he was “misunderstood”.

The organisation claimed to be "working to build a better world", with a membership of 16,000 across the US, Canada, Mexico and Central America.

‘Geronimo’ was a Top 10 hit in half a dozen countries and had received 39 million YouTube views as of March 2019.

In Australia, it was certified 6 x Platinum and was the highest-selling single in Australia by an Australian artist in 2014.