Amanda Knox, the American woman acquitted of murdering British student Meredith Kercher, is set to perform a stand-up show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, sparking fury from the victim's family and their lawyer.
The show, titled 'Cartwheel', is believed to reference the cartwheels Knox performed while waiting to be questioned during the investigation into Kercher's death in Perugia, Italy, in 2007. Knox, 38, will debut the show at the world-famous festival, with the performance expected to touch on the murder case that dominated headlines for years.
Kercher, a 21-year-old from Croydon, south London, was found dead in the flat she shared with Knox. Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were initially convicted of the killing but later acquitted, with Italy's highest court issuing a definitive acquittal in 2015. Another man, Rudy Guede, served 16 years for the crime.
Francesco Maresca, the lawyer for the Kercher family, branded the show an “offensive and deplorable” insult to Meredith's memory, saying he had lost hope that Knox could understand the feelings she has triggered. The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, known for its open-access format, has not yet commented.
Knox, who now lives in the US with her husband and two children, began comedy last year and has previously opened for Nikki Glaser. She will not be paid for the Fringe appearance. The backlash comes amid other controversies, including Knox writing to serial killer Lucy Letby in prison and sending her a book.
