AIBU to think an Edinburgh festival show about Meredith Kercher's murder should be stopped?

[VivienneDelacroix]

Aibu to think that this show at the Edinburgh Festival should be cancelled? It mocks the circumstances around the murder of Meredith Kercher and serves it up as entertainment.

Not only is it horribly disrespectful of Meredith's family, but it also belittles the issue of violence against girls and women.

Meredith's siblings are calling for it to be pulled from the festival. There is also a petition calling for it to be stopped.

c.org/WXGTGJfpRh

There’s a really good podcast on BBC iPlayer in the Shadow World Series - it’s called Stolen Years, it’s about Andrew Malkinson and he speaks very clearly about why he speaks about his MoJ and why he won’t stop speaking about it.

I have to say I do genuinely think Amanda appears to have some talent as a writer and performer having seen some clips. I don't particularly like her demeanour and style of performance, but I can appreciate that others will like the way she performs. It’s a shame that the controversial subject matter risks overshadowing the quality of the work itself as she is now rightfully free to live her life since being released.

She has already told her story in several different ways, and I think she could potentially be even more successful writing and performing something completely new and fictional perhaps in a similar style.of genre and I don't mean the subject being murder or anything like that. Something fresh and a new direction for her to move forward and gain praise for something that doesn't tarnish any talent she has. The controversial subject matter of which she is still linked to with the recent upheld conviction and potentially offensive nature of the material will always provide a strong reaction both sides when performed in the show and I personally this will always overshadow the quality of the work itself.

My own personal view of someone who does seem to have genuine creative ability.

I will look for this. I know I'm out of touch but I don't listen (or watch?) any podcasts, but I'll give it a go as my first.

You repeatedly gave your own speculative reason as to why you don't believe a certain allegation.

When other people did the same and gave their opinion, you dismissed it as "just their opinion".

It was pointed out that others, like you, are entitled to an opinion.

You then misrepresented what others' opinions were.

When I explained the difference between your characterization of the basis of others opinions "Knox said it so it must be true" vs "after weighing these factors, I lean towards believing her", you rudely dismissed as "word salad". I was rude back.

You then accused me - for some reason - of being far right. I made a passive aggressive post back.

You were then insulting (I didn't report it, but looks like HQ deleted).

I was then insulting - and HQ deleted.

I've been insulting to ThatJadeLion, where I ought to have shown restraint. I was drawn into tit-for-tat with you.

Incidentally, I do find it frustrating that posts like "anyone who would go see this show is lacking in moral decency" survive, but posts like "Knox truthers are [negative word]" are deleted.

It may simply be that one side more rigorously reports posts than the others, though.

I appreciate you acknowledging that. I also accept that, out of frustration, some of my responses became a little heated. This thread has provoked strong views and emotions on both sides, so I’m happy to draw a line under a disagreement and leave it there.

She has also been exonerated of slander against Patrick Lumumba.

The man she accused of raping and murdering Meredith.

The man who spent 2 weeks in prison because of her, who lost his bar and had to leave the country.

Had the police investigation been better things might be different.

@MercedesBlue11 Rudy Guede was convicted, but he was convicted as being part of a pair or a group.

I don't believe she was exonerated of slander? I thought the Italian court upheld the conviction?

Some of Meredith’s family members feel that the comedy element of the show is disrespectful to their sister / daughter. I sympathise with the pain they still feel from their loss, and for that reason I would not watch it.

Her parents are dead. She does have surviving siblings though yes.

No, she has not yet been exonerated of slander against Lumumba. The Italian courts have upheld that conviction. However, that decision flies in the face of the findings of fact previously made by the courts about her interrogation and how the police went about extracting a statement from her implicating both herself and Lumumba, in line with the police's then theory (which was, in part, based on not understanding the phrase "see you later" in a text message - they thought it meant that Knox had actually arranged to see Lumumba later). It does, however, save a little bit of face for the Italian justice system and avoids them having to pay her around £300,000 in compensation for wrongful imprisonment.

I understand she is appealing to the ECHR. I think she has a good chance of overturning that conviction there if they take the case. I should also point out that, in most jurisdictions, making a statement to the police incorrectly accusing someone of a crime is not a criminal offence, nor does it give rise to civil proceedings.

She is not to blame for what happened to Lumumba. The blame lies entirely with the police, who arrested him before Knox made her statement and who were convinced he was involved, hence their refusal to accept any statement from Knox that did not implicate him.

Can someone post the clip of the show again?

Lots of people who are the victims of miscarriages of justice are never forgotten. The Birmingham six, the Guildford four etc - they’re part of a syllabus of a law degree!

Miscarriages of justice change the law.

I honestly don’t think she owes anything to the Kercher family. She wasn’t involved in the murder - her only link to the murder is that she was her roommate. She isn’t mocking her roommate. She is talking about her own horrific experience.

they have accepted it

She does have a right to tell her story, so I won’t be signing the petition. I wouldn’t watch it myself, though, as I can understand why Meredith Kercher’s siblings feel the way they do about the story being told as a comedy. It isn’t just Knox’s story, that’s the problem here.

However you look at it, the siblings have suffered a lot of loss, what with losing their parents as well.

That is not AK’a fault though. The impact on AK life is absolutely huge and she won’t ever get over it.

I never said it was AK’s fault. I also said that she has a right to tell her story, so I wouldn’t be signing the petition.

I just said that I also understood where the siblings were coming from, objecting to the story being told as a comedy. So I wouldn’t see it myself.

Here's the Guardian review for the curious - they give it 4 stars.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/aug/10/amanda-knox-in-cartwheel-review-rookie-standup-acquitted-of-tells-her-story

As a PP mentions, the ECtHR has taken up the case and categorized it as an Impact Case, so perhaps we'll get a decision next year.

It really does appear bizarre how the Court upheld her conviction. In short:

• she was originally convicted of slander based on the statements typed up by the police during the interrogation (that implicated Lumumba, which the ECtHR ruled could not be used as a basis for conviction due to the coercive manner in which they were obtained, which rendered them unreliable).

• no longer able to convict based on those typed statements, the 2024/5 decisions convicted on the basis of the handwritten note that Knox produced a few hours after the interrogation, in which she retracted the allegations.

• The retraction was not a full-throated one, but described confusion. She said that, following the interrogation, she had images in her mind of Patrick at the scene. She said that she was not sure the events in the statements really happened, that the images she had (implanted...) in her mind were dreamlike, and that she did not know if they were real memories or if they are imagination.

• Normally, if a person was subject to human rights violations in order to obtain a statement, the statements obtained during or in the direct aftermath are deemed unreliable. To get around that, the Italian courts ruled that the handwritten retraction note was "spontaneous" and not connected to the previous interrogation (which seems quite a stretch, given that it was specifically about the statement extracted during interrogation, and mere hours afterwards).

• the court also ruled that Knox's intent in the statement was to implicate Lumumba, which seems absurd given he was already implicated by the typed statements, and she was clearly and explicitly communicating that she had real doubts as to whether he was there at all, or if what she was seeing was imagined.

On its face, it seems a genuinely ludicrous, self-serving, decision.

Interesting, thank you.

Thank you @SpaceRaccoon . It’s nice to read informed comment.

The reviews have ranged between 2 and 4 stars (more 2s than 4s) and seem to have a common theme - it's poignant, respectful, but broadly fails as a comedy.

Interestingly, the Telegraph's review was that it was too "good taste".

FWIW, from the clips I've seen of her jokes - they're mostly pretty obvious and pedestrian, though I did chuckle at a couple. She seems to have been better received on the comedy side in the US, so maybe it speaks to the culutral gap in comedic tastes.

Actually, have just seen a couple of other 4 star reviews from critics, so she's probably evening out at 3-stars overall (and it seems it may have been better reviewed had it been billed as a performance rather than as a comedy).

It does seem to be the near-universal reaction that there is nothing offensive about the show's content, and a lot of people have found it moving and/or meaningful.

Asked with sincerity, particularly now the thread has cooled a little - do the reviews and audience reactions cause anyone who signed the petition to have second thoughts about whether it should have been banned?

If you read the headline “rookie standup acquitted of murder” speaks of her experience - how could anyone object?

it seems ludicrous to deny someone their story