by Paul Serran
As soon as the verdict for Allison Mack was announced, Twitter was flooded with messages of every kind about it.
Allison Mack got to trend at #7 and NXIVM at #16.
Some overtures of Mack to other women are sad to read, in retrospect.
For many, the juxtaposition of Mack’s sentence and Bill Cosby’s conviction being vacated, which were announced at roughly the same time, was too much not to associate.
@jasonofthedead wrote: “Between Bill Cosby, James Franco and Allison Mack thing today I just wanna say sorry to all sexual abuse survivors. I’m sorry that you had to go through that and I’m sorry that our justice system doesn’t care.”
As to the synchronicity between the two announcements, @bisaacs wrote: “So they let Cosby out, apparently to make room for Allison Mack…”
Cosby’s vacated conviction was announced almost at the same time as Mack’s sentence.
“Bill Cosby is being released,” @ItsRozBitches wrote, “Allison Mack gets only 3 years for her involvement in NXIVM, meanwhile we have 40k folks rotting in prison for cannabis. There is seriously something sinister and f***ed up about the American culture.”
The justice system’s handling of other prosecuted people bugged @Kaleigh23673557, who wrote: “So Bill Cosby is allowed to be released? Allison Mack gets a three year sentence… But Julian #Assange is still tortured at Belmarsh. And faces 175 years. FOR GIVING US THE TRUTH. This world is so backwards.”
@TaureanReign added that “People [are] mad that #BillCosby got his conviction overturned and released from jail but aren’t saying how #AllisonMack [is] receiving only 3 years in prison for the role she played in a known sex cult that branded their victims in the pelvic reason like they were cattle.”
News that actor James Franco also settled today his sex crime lawsuit drove @risch_brian to write: “Today: Bill Cosby was released. Allison Mack was sentenced to 3 years. and James Franco settled. I guess if your (sic) famous, Accountability means nothing.”
Mack’s 2016 Twits with attempts to recruit Emily Watson were highlighted.
Some found her sentence too short compared to Raniere, like @VinniePenn who wrote: “So #KeithRaniere gets 120 years in jail for #sextrafficking and #AllisonMack gets THREE for bringing him the girls. Our judicial system shows its myriad flaws yet again. Appalling. #NXIVM #stopsextrafficking”
@angtaysversion opined that her relatively short sentence was due to her fame, so he wrote: “The fact that Allison Mack is only getting 3 years in prison is beyond unsettling. Why is this the world we live in and why does having any kind of moderate fame mean you can literally just do whatever you want…? Celebrity in a cult? Totally fine, right?”
Many people were angered by the news, today.
@NudeDudeKernow noticed that, even after being sentenced for racketeering and other crimes, Mack still has a verified Twitter account: “How has @allisonmack’s account still got a blue tick?”
But not everyone was out for blood: @Trans_nationale wrote: “I only want to say one thing about Allison Mack. Sometimes we on the left forget about justice and mistake it for revenge.”
@teamimpossible4 also posted that “wasn’t too happy about Allison Mack getting prison time given she was as much of a victim of Keith as anybody else.”
@radicalunionist felt compelled to correct some wrong takes on Mack’s role in NXIVM: “I’m talking about the line ‘she was a central figure in the organization for decades’. That’s false. Unless you’re talking about Nancy Salzmann, then it’s totally true.”
Some people were not for Mack, but found her sentence to be appropriate.
Some were against Mack, but felt the sentence was a just one. @RyanShead posted: “I really thought Allison Mack would get away with probation. She deserves every bit of it.”
A well known free lance writer for the New York Times Magazine and Vanity Fair, Vanessa Grigoriadis, seems to have a take on the roles of Clare Bronfman and Allison Mack in NXIVM and DOS.
@vanessagrigor opined: “Fascinating sentence today for Allison Mack in the Nxivm case. Three years for Mack, directly involved in the branding/slave pyramid; six years and nine months for Clare Bronfman, who (we think) did not know about it.”
The judge added extra years for Bronfman for her willful ignorance of all things concerning DOS and other Raniere led deeds.
Some people who had known her previously had to share their bafflement, as @juanmichaelii, who wrote: “Allison Mack & I were friends in grade 9 so it’s weird to hear that she has been sentenced to 3 years in prison, just as Bill Cosby is being released after having 3 years. Neither case is progress; both are signs that the US legal system cares more about celebrities than victims.”
The same was true for @EliasToufexis, who posted: “If you want to know about how well my “weird stuff” radar works; I was friends with Allison Mack for years. Never noticed anything.”
Many people’s opinions were colored by the relationship they had with her character in Smallville, such as @NINETIESWITCH who added: “when I think of Allison Mack I think of the disgusting shit she’s done, and to a lesser extent (bc victims > entertainment, obviously), how she ruined Smallville for me. Lock her up! stat stat!”
@Matthew_NCC1701 was troubled by this confusion, writing: “Yes, I am a fan of Smallville, and yes I loved Allison Mack’s character on that show (it was one of the best), but yes, I’m not “crushed that she’s going to jail” because I’m an adult and I know that real live human actors are NOT the characters they portray. Grow up, people.”
Allison Mack leaves Brooklyn Federal Court with her mother after being sentenced to 3 years behind bars. She’ll report to prison in September.@CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/lzlrGhvuk4
— Alice Gainer (@GainerTV) June 30, 2021
