'I cannot fathom how rape and murder can be laughed about'

The sister of murdered student Meredith Kercher is demanding Amanda Knox – the woman convicted, but later acquitted, over her killing – cancel her Edinburgh Fringe show.

Knox, who has now turned her hand to stand-up, is accused of making light of the rape and murder of her British flatmate in Italy in 2007. Rudy Guede, an Ivorian migrant, was subsequently found guilty of her murder.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph earlier this week, Knox said that Meredith would’ve found the show funny, adding: Meredith was really sophisticated and smart but she was also fun… I think that she would appreciate the show, because it grapples with what it means to be a young woman, and it’s honest.’

But Meredith's sister Stephanie has denied this, saying ‘she absolutely would not find comedy surrounding these issues funny.’

She said: ‘Imagine 20 years after Meredith's death, your pain is turned into someone else's laughter. My sister's tragedy is being used to debut a comedy show this weekend in Edinburgh of all places by the very person who was questioned and taken to the legal system by Italian prosecution.

‘I'm very aware that in high-profile cases everyone has their own opinions on guilt and innocence and I also agree with freedom of speech. 

'However, when someone is still using Meredith's name to support themselves, and furthermore, when a comedy is linked to an individual case and individual person, I cannot fathom how rape and murder can be laughed about and I cannot understand how one person's behaviour at the police station can be the subject of the comedy show.’

Knox’s show at the Gilded Balloon is called Cartwheel –  a  reference to the exercises she did in a police station on the night she was arrested while waiting to be quizzed.

 Stephanie added: ‘Meredith, my sister, was a very clever and witty person and loved by so many for those very reasons. She was a girl's girl who you could rely on and would very much be the strong courageous woman today. 

‘She absolutely would not find comedy surrounding these issues funny and I believe this goes against everything that inspirational women are still fighting for today."

She has signed a petition set up by family friend Sally Alington,  calling on the Gilded Balloon and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to withdraw the show.

Alington said: ‘To see this distasteful and disrespectful performance being given the green light to go ahead under the label of a "stand-up comedy" with "adult’" themes when we are talking about the rape and murder of a young woman totally beggars belief.

"This isn't just wholly inappropriate and hurtful to family and friends of Meredith, this goes far beyond that. It normalises and trivialises violence against women.’

Chortle has approached Knox’s representative for comment.

And the Gilded Balloon said they had nothing to add beyond an earlier statement which said: ‘The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is an open-access festival. As a Fringe venue, we provide a platform for a wide range of voices, in line with the Fringe’s long-standing commitment to freedom of expression (within the confines of the law) and ensure our audiences can make informed choices.

‘ Artists and companies choose to participate at our venue and take on the financial and creative responsibility for their work. Amanda's show is a one-woman piece exploring themes of motherhood, presented independently by her.’

It would not be in the Festival Fringe Society’s powers to cancel a show, though they could refuse to include it in the online programme.

Published: 5 Aug 2026