Amanda Knox defends Fringe comedy show after claims it will 'trivialise violence'

Claire Thomson - BBC Scotland; Pauline McLean - Scotland arts correspondent Fri, August 7, 2026 at 8:49 AM UTC

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Amanda Knox's show, Cartwheel, discusses motherhood and how she will explain what happened in Perugia to her daughter

Amanda Knox, who was convicted and later acquitted of murdering British student Meredith Kercher in Italy in 2007, has defended her solo comedy show following calls for it to be cancelled.

The sold-out show called Cartwheel, which Knox will perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, discusses motherhood and how she will explain the case to her daughter.

Knox told the BBC she is not the first person to use comedy to talk about traumatic events and said her material focuses on "how the world is unsafe and unfair towards women".

But Stephanie Kercher, the victim's sister, said she is concerned it will "normalise and trivialise" violence against women, and Meredith, in particular.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Stephanie Kercher, said: "What I would say [to Knox] is to think about the family here, think about her friends and to turn the tables if it was your sister that this had happened to, because I know you have a sister as well."

Responding to the comments, Knox said: "The interesting irony of that is that my daughter is a huge motivation for me doing this show.

"It's about how the world is unsafe and unfair towards women and what it means to raise a daughter in that world, knowing how bad it can be.

"If they [Kercher's family] saw my show, they would recognise that."

A petition against the show, set up by a friend of Meredith, has been signed by nearly 5,000 people.

It states the show disrespects her memory and risks making light of such a harrowing event.

Stephanie Kercher added she did not believe Meredith would find these topics of any comedic value.

She said: "Our family's pain is immense. I can't explain to you how much pain our family have been through, and also we're talking two decades later now, this pain.

"I think that if it was a generic theme, as many comedy shows are, even when they're pushing the boundaries, it would be different.

"Because this is associated with an individual case and individual person, I think that's where the worry lies here for me, because who else is this going to then open up this opportunity for?"

But Knox told BBC Scotland News she does not downplay the seriousness of the case and is respectful in her approach.

"I hope people will honestly engage in my work and recognise the deep heart and sensitivity that I bring to it as I tell a very personal story," she said.

Meredith Kercher was an exchange student in Italy when she was murdered in her home

The comedy show is set to run over 11 days in the Gilded Balloon Teviot.

Its title Cartwheel references a story that once claimed Knox did cartwheels in the police station after her British roommate's death.

She said the cartwheel becomes a metaphor throughout the show.

"It is about acknowledging that bad things happen in life which will turn you upside down," Knox said.

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"But it's also about not letting that arrest your momentum because the only way you can land on your feet is through those difficult experiences."

Knox added she would love to have an open and honest conversation with Kercher's family but claimed she has never had the opportunity.

"It would be incredible for them to see me for who I really am instead of the idea that was delivered to them by people in bad hands," she said.

Tony Lankester, director of the Fringe Society, said the festival is no stranger to controversy and it is a platform for free speech.

"It's the nature of an open access platform," he told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast.

"When you open up your stages and invite people in to tell their stories without censorship, any curation and without trying to control the content ahead of time, you're inevitably going to end up staging things that cause discomfort and push the boundaries."

Lankester added the line in terms of what is acceptable is the law, which he claimed is clear.

"If anyone wants to use the Fringe to break the law, to incite violence or to embark on hate speech, that is our red line and we would intervene," he said.

"For us, the baseline principle is it is a platform for free speech and some people may not regard it as being in good taste but we cannot apply that criteria because who decides that?"

He said the decision as to whether the comedy show goes ahead lies with the venue and Knox, herself.

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Since Meredith Kercher's death, Knox has written two books about her imprisonment and served as an executive producer on the biographical drama The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox.

Now 39, she is married with two children and lives in Washington state.

Knox, from Seattle, and Kercher, from Surrey, were both exchange students sharing a house in the university town of Perugia.

Alongside her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, Knox was arrested on suspicion of murdering Kercher, 21, who was found dead in their house.

Her throat had been cut and she had been sexually assaulted.

Knox was found guilty and spent four years in an Italian prison before she and Sollecito were acquitted through an appeal.

She returned home to the US in 2011.

A retrial in 2014 reinstated Knox and Sollecito's convictions but Italy's top appeals court finally overturned them in 2015.

Ivory Coast-born Rudy Guede served 13 years of a 16-year sentence for Kercher's murder after his fingerprints were found at the scene.

The court ruled he did not act alone but after Knox and Sollecito were acquitted, no other accomplices were convicted.

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