Amanda Knox is set to perform a stand-up comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe about the wrongful imprisonment that followed the murder of Meredith Kercher. The show, titled Cartwheel, references a story that she did cartwheels in a police station after her friend's death.
In 2007, Meredith Kercher, a British foreign exchange student, was killed in Perugia, Italy. Knox, her American roommate, and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were arrested and later convicted of murder and sexual assault in 2009. After years of legal battles, they were acquitted by Italy's highest court in 2015.
Now 39, Knox is married with two children and lives on Vashon-Maury Island in rural Washington. She initially planned to make a show about motherhood, but comedian friends told her she had to 'address the elephant in the room'.
Comedy red lines
Speaking to The Telegraph, Knox said she did not believe there were any topics off bounds for comedy, but insisted she would not poke fun at Kercher's death. 'I don’t joke about Meredith’s death. I joke a lot about how I was vilified, but I don’t joke about her murder. That’s just a line for me. I set red lines for myself that other comedians don’t. I’ve had other comedians pitch me jokes that I just would not do,' she said.
Asked whether her loved ones were concerned about backlash to the show, she referred to a gag she says on stage: 'My friends and family are actually really nervous for me, despite my spotless record in the court of public opinion.'
Kercher family backlash
The Telegraph has reported that Kercher's relatives, according to their lawyer Francesco Maresca, have called the idea of the show 'offensive and deplorable'.
Knox said: 'If they reached out to me and actually communicated with me for the first time ever, I would absolutely want to talk to them. Something that is an unresolved wound for me is the fact that I have never been able to talk to them. I assume they still assume that I’m guilty. I would very much want to establish that kind of communication, but I’m not going to have my life dictated by what they want for me.'
She added: 'We share a grief, and we both knew a real person who died, and who primarily belongs to them, but I’m a person too. I have the life that I have lived, and I have the right to tell my own story, and Meredith is a big part of that story. And I think I honour her.'
Honouring Meredith
Knox said she believed Kercher would 'appreciate the show because it grapples with what it means to be a young woman, and it is honest', adding that her late roommate would have found it 'funny'.
Previous projects
Knox has previously shared her story in documentaries, an eight-part TV drama she produced with Monica Lewinsky, and books.
Guede conviction
Rudy Hermann Guede was convicted of Kercher's murder in 2008. He was released from prison in 2021 after serving 13 years of a 16-year term.
