Amanda Knox's Cringey Joke Draws Backlash

Maybe she should've left her own history out of it
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 4, 2020 10:35 AM CST
Amanda Knox Election Joke Doesn't Go Over Well
Amanda Knox speaks at the University of Modena in Italy on June 15, 2019.   (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

With tensions high on election night, many people were making anxiety-induced posts and jokes online, and Amanda Knox was one of them. But while her late-night tweet received some thumbs-up, it also drew backlash for what many say was insensitivity to both other voters and to the woman she was once accused of killing. Her tongue-in-cheek post, made shortly before midnight ET: "Whatever happens, the next four years can't be as bad as that four-year study abroad I did in Italy, right?" The Independent, which notes Knox isn't a Trump fan, points out the "mixed reaction" to her post, starting with those who laughed and even praised Knox for her resilience.

"You're superhuman for surviving that psychologically," one commenter commiserated. "I survived something similar but emerged with far less grace and optimism than you." But others said she was tone-deaf to the plight of others who were anxiously keeping tabs on this election. "Agreed, the mass persecution of blacks, Muslims, Latinx, & LGBTQ pales in comparison to the tribulations of a single white woman," another wrote sarcastically. Still others cringed at Knox using the murder of roommate Meredith Kercher, a crime she was eventually acquitted of after spending four years in jail, as the backdrop for her wisecrack. "Hey you know someone died, right?" one poster remarked. (More Amanda Knox stories.)

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