Stephanie Kercher, sister of murdered British student Meredith Kercher, has criticized Amanda Knox's upcoming Edinburgh comedy show "Cartwheel" on BBC Breakfast. Knox was convicted and acquitted of murdering Meredith in 2007. The show will run for 11 days from Friday, with a spokesperson claiming it honors Meredith's memory. Over 2,400 people have signed a petition against the show, which Stephanie Kercher said disrespects her sister's memory and normalizes violence against women.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Stephanie Kercher, the sister of Meredith Kercher, who was murdered in Perugia, Italy in 2007, has criticized Amanda Knox's upcoming comedy show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Knox was convicted and later acquitted of Meredith's murder. The show, called Cartwheel, is about motherhood and how Knox will explain what happened to her daughter. However, Stephanie Kercher expressed concern that the show might be insensitive and wondered if Knox would want someone making jokes about her own sister's death. A spokesperson for Knox said the show honors Meredith's memory and references a past story in which Knox was accused of doing cartwheels at the police station after her friend's death. Knox claims she doesn't joke about Meredith's murder, but rather about how she was vilified during the trial. The Gilded Balloon Teviot venue hosting the show says it supports freedom of expression and a wide range of voices.
Written for “Amanda Knox Comedy Show” on 2026-08-31,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article presents Stephanie Kercher's criticisms and emotions in detail, using phrases like 'Our family's pain is immense' to convey empathy for the victim's family. Additionally, the article quotes Amanda Knox's statements as responses to these criticisms, creating a sense of balance, but with a slightly more sympathetic tone towards Kercher and her family.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score +0.75 for article 532 · logged 2026-08-06
- Published
The sister of Meredith Kercher has criticised a solo comedy show by Amanda Knox, who was convicted and later acquitted of murdering the British student in Italy in 2007.
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who → publish → 2007
The Edinburgh Festival Fringe website says Knox's show, Cartwheel, is about motherhood and how she will explain what happened in Perugia to her daughter.
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what → say → daughter
Stephanie Kercher, addressing Knox directly on BBC Breakfast, 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."
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you → address → sister
A spokesperson for Knox said the show, set to run over 11 days from Friday, honours Kercher's memory.
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show → say → memory
Her comedy show's title Cartwheel references a story that once claimed she did cartwheels in the police station after her friend's death.
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she → reference → death
Knox told the Telegraph newspaper, external last week: "I don't joke about Meredith's death.
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I → tell → death
I joke a lot about how I was vilified, but I don't joke about her murder."
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I → joke → murder
Asked if Meredith Kercher would have found her comedy funny, she added: "Yeah, I think so.
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I → ask → ?
I mean, it is funny!"
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it → mean → ?
Responding to that suggestion, Stephanie Kercher told the BBC: "Meredith absolutely wouldn't find these topics of any comedy value."
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Meredith → respond → value
She said: "Our family's pain is immense.
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pain → say → ?
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."
A petition against the show, set up by a friend of Meredith, has been signed by just over 2,400 people, and says the show disrespects her memory and also risks normalising violence against women by making light of such a harrowing event.
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show → explain → event
Referencing the petition, Stephanie Kercher told BBC Breakfast: "It's not just our family that feels this pain, and I do think this is something that needs to be looked at, because it sets a precedent for anyone else to do a show like this."
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anyone → reference → this
She urged Prime Minister Andy Burnham to explore the issue and said she would like to meet him.
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she → urge → him
"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," she added.
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she → think → boundaries
"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."
The venue for the show next week, the Gilded Balloon Teviot, said Edinburgh Festival Fringe provides a platform for a wide range of voices in line with the commitment to freedom of expression.
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Fringe → associate → expression
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.
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Knox → write → Knox
Now 39, she is married with two children and lives in Washington state.
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she → live → state
Knox, from Seattle in the US, and Meredith Kercher, from Surrey in the UK, were both language exchange students sharing a house in the university town of Perugia.
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Knox → share → Perugia
Alongside her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, Knox was arrested on suspicion of murdering Kercher, 21, who was found dead in their house.
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who → arrest → house
Her throat had been cut and she had been sexually assaulted.
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she → cut → ?
After being found guilty, Knox served four years in an Italian prison before she and Sollecito were acquitted through an appeal.
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she → find → appeal
She returned home to the US in 2011.
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She → return → 2011
A retrial in 2014 reinstated Knox and Sollecito's convictions but Italy's top appeals court finally overturned their convictions in 2015.
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court → reinstate → 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.
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fingerprints → bear → scene
The court ruled that he did not act alone, but after Knox and Sollecito were acquitted no other accomplices were convicted.
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accomplices → rule → ?
