Amanda Knox breaks silence on social media to personally address show controversy
Amanda Knox has taken to social media to address the controversy
Amanda Knox has taken to social media to directly address the controversy surrounding her show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Ms Knox, who is set to perform her show, Cartwheel at Gilded Balloon’s Teviot venue from tomorrow night, said a petition launched by friends of Meredith Kercher, who was murdered in Italy in 2007, was intended to “shame and vilify a wronged woman into silence”.
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The petition, backed by Ms Kercher’s sister, Stephanie and entitled “Stop the Amanda Knox 'Cartwheel' performance at the Edinburgh Fringe”, has gathered almost 3,000 signatures ahead of Ms Knox’s show debuting in Edinburgh this weekend.
Stephanie Kercher spoke out against the show on BBC Breakfast on Thursday morning.
READ MORE: Meredith Kercher’s sister backs petition demanding Amanda Knox’s Fringe show is cancelled
Ms Knox was convicted and later acquitted of the murder of Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old Leeds University student found dead on the floor of her room in November 2007 after being stabbed and sexually assaulted.
Writing on her Instagram page, Ms Knox said: “There is a petition to cancel my show at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Cartwheel is a show about motherhood, raising a daughter in a world that is unfair and dangerous for women, and what it costs to be the kind of mother who tells her the truth about that.
READ MORE: Amanda Knox’s Fringe show described as “offensive and deplorable” by Meredith Kercher’s family
“Neither the author of this petition nor anyone who signed it has seen Cartwheel. The petition contains many false assumptions and completely mischaracterises the show. Cartwheel honours Meredith Kercher’s memory and calls out the violence that was done to her and to me .A petition to cancel a show no one has seen, on the grounds of false accusations intended to shame and vilify a wronged woman into silence, is not an argument against Cartwheel.
“It's a fairly precise description of what Cartwheel is about and why it deserves to exist. And the Edinburgh Fringe is the perfect place for a show like this.”
She added: “Many of the Fringe's most celebrated comedy shows tackle difficult subjects including grief, trauma, mental health, addiction, illness, identity, and politics. Comics rarely treat these experiences lightly or make them the butt of the joke. Instead, they use comedy as a way to explore them, creating space for audiences to engage with complex ideas, connect through shared experience, and find moments of relief, perspective and hope in subjects that might otherwise feel overwhelming.”
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