When people marry, they gain not only a spouse and life partner but also an extended family. Navigating this can be messy at times. Actor Adam Driver may be able to relate to this.
The Sun is reporting that his mother-in-law, Cynthia May, the mother of his wife, Joanne Tucker, once allegedly taught for the New York City cult the Odyssey Study Group. This group has a long history of accusations of mental and physical abuse, among other alleged crimes.
The Odyssey Study Group is believed to have been founded by Sharon Gans, an actor best known for her work on SlaughterHouse Five, and husband Alex Horn, a playwright. Former members of the cult have spoken out about the horrors of membership.
These survivors claim they were forced to pay $400 a month for membership, which included classes and lectures, many of which were taught by Gans. Gans based her teachings on Russian philosophers who strongly believed the way to self-improvement was through hard work and suffering.
“We would pretty much work around the clock the whole weekend for 48 hours and I was probably working 100 hours a week. After about six months of that, I learned I had a psychotic break just from the stress,” recalled former member Don Raskopf.
Spencer Schneider was instructed by Gans to marry Cynthia May, becoming Joanne Tucker’s stepfather. He revealed that members would disclose their biggest insecurities, and the group would use the information against them. The verbal assault was brutal.
May and Schneider divorced. Schneider left the group after 20 years of membership. He does not believe that May is still involved but cannot say for certain.
“I have my doubts if she’s still involved. She might be, but she was also cut out from Sharon’s will several years ago, so she may have been on the outs,” Schneider said. “And there are other things that make me think she’s not in it anymore.”
He is certain that Driver and Tucker are not involved. “[Adam and Joanne] have no involvement in it whatsoever. None,” he said. “I know Adam and Joanne very well, they’re my stepdaughter and son-in-law.”
“They have no involvement in it, I think Joanne knows about Sharon, you know, she knows about that. But they all have no involvement at all and they didn’t like Sharon, the kids,” he went on to say. He added, “They all hated her.”
