Amanda Knox, the American former student who was convicted and later acquitted of the 2007 murder of her British flatmate Meredith Kercher in Italy, is set to perform a comedy show titled "Cartwheel" at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this month. The show, scheduled to run for 11 nights at the Gilded Balloon’s Teviot venue in Edinburgh, has sparked controversy, with Kercher’s family and supporters calling for its cancellation.
Kercher’s sister, Stephanie Kercher, has publicly criticized the show, describing it as trivializing and normalizing violence against women. Speaking in support of a petition urging the festival organizers to withdraw Knox’s performance, Stephanie said she could not understand how rape and murder could be the subject of a comedy gig, especially from someone who was deeply involved in the high-profile legal case. She expressed that her sister’s tragedy is being transformed into entertainment nearly 20 years after the event, and that the comedy, which references an incident where Knox was reported to have performed cartwheels at a police station, added an “extra wound.” Stephanie emphasized that Meredith, known for her wit and intelligence, would not find such material humorous and that the show runs counter to the values many women’s rights advocates continue to champion.
The petition was initiated by Sally Alington, a friend of the Kercher family, who called the show “distasteful” and “disrespectful” and argued it perpetuates harmful attitudes by normalizing violence against women. The petition attracted nearly 5,000 signatures before the show’s debut. Alington urged the venue and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe organizers to reconsider their commitment to hosting the performance, citing moral concerns.
In response to the criticism, a spokeswoman for Amanda Knox stated that the petition included false assumptions and mischaracterized the show. Knox herself defended "Cartwheel" through social media platforms, saying the show honors Meredith’s memory and highlights the violence both women experienced. Knox, 39, now living in rural Washington state with her husband and two children, framed the performance as a personal exploration of her wrongful imprisonment and an attempt to process her past experience, including how she plans to explain it to her daughter. Knox also denied reports that she did cartwheels in the police station, which inspired the show’s title.
The Gilded Balloon, one of the venues hosting Knox’s show, declined to comment beyond a previous statement affirming the Fringe as an open-access festival. The organizers maintain that the festival provides a platform for a broad range of voices in line with their longstanding commitment to freedom of expression.
Knox was initially convicted of murder and sexual assault in 2009, along with her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, before both were acquitted by Italy’s highest court in 2015. Rudy Hermann Guede, a man convicted of the murder based on DNA evidence, served a prison sentence and was released in 2021.
The debate over the show raises complex questions about artistic freedom, the impact of public performances tied to real-life tragedies, and the sensitivities of victims' families toward portrayals of painful events.