Amanda Knox slams new Matt Damon film 'Stillwater' for using the story of her overturned murder conviction without her consent
Advertisement
Debanjali Bose
Jul 31, 2021, 03:02 IST
Amanda Knox spoke out against the latest dramatization of her life in a lengthy Medium post before the release of "Stillwater" on Friday.
Lou Rocco/Walt Disney Television/Getty Images/Michael Loccisano/WireImage
Amanda Knox slammed Matt Damon for his new movie based on her overturned murder conviction.
"Stillwater" tells the story of an American father in France trying to exonerate his daughter.
"Why is my name used to refer to events I had no hand in?" Knox wrote in a Medium post on Thursday.
Advertisement
Amanda Knox slammed Matt Damon for his new movie "Stillwater," saying the filmmakers didn't ask Knox for her "consent" before making a film inspired by her overturned murder conviction.
The story of Kercher's murder and Knox's subsequent eight-year trial has been heavily covered in the media and turned into a Lifetime movie, a documentary, and most recently, the Damon-led film "Stillwater." In the new film, Damon plays an American father in France trying to exonerate his daughter after she's accused of murdering her roommate.
Knox spoke out against "Stillwater" in a lengthy Medium post before the movie's release on Friday, claiming that "every single review" of the film mentions her and that her face "appears on profiles and articles about the film."
Advertisement
"Why is my name used to refer to events I had no hand in?" Knox wrote in Thursday's essay, which she also shared on Twitter. "I return to these questions because others continue to profit off my name, face, and story without my consent."
Knox said neither Damon nor director Tom McCarthy spoke to her before making the movie about the murder trial where she had "near-zero agency." She referred to a recent Vanity Fair interview with McCarthy where the director said he "couldn't help but imagine" being in "Knox's shoes" and told the magazine his film was directly inspired by Knox's saga.
"My family and I have a lot to say about that, and would have told McCarthy…if he'd ever reached out," Knox wrote.
Knox also said in Thursday's Medium post that the film exaggerates her role as a "peripheral figure" in the events surrounding Kercher's murder by having Allison (played by Abigail Breslin), the character based on Knox, ask the killer for help getting rid of her roommate.
Instead, Knox said that movies and media reports about the 2007 murder should focus on Kercher and Guede.
Advertisement
"Don't blame me for the fact that others put the focus on me instead of Meredith," Knox wrote in the essay. "And when you refer to these events, understand that how you talk about it affects the people involved: Meredith's family, my family, Raffaele Sollecito, and me."
Knox addressed the fallout from the intense media scrutiny in Thursday's post, writing that while Damon and McCarthy have no "moral obligation" to reach out to her about "Stillwater," as it's a fictionalized account, she "never asked to become a public person" in the aftermath of the murder.
"I was hounded by paparazzi," Knox wrote. "My story and trauma was (and is) endlessly recycled for entertainment, and in the process, I've been accused of shifting attention away from the memory of Meredith Kercher, of being a media whore."
Advertisement
She added: "I have not been allowed to return to the relative anonymity I had before Perugia. My only option is to sit idly by while others continue to distort my character, or fight to restore my good reputation that was wrongfully destroyed."
Representatives for Amanda Knox, Matt Damon, and "Stillwater" director Tom McCarthy didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Focus Features, the studio behind "Stillwater," also didn't respond to a request for comment from Insider.
{{}}
NewsletterSIMPLY PUT - where we join the dots to inform and inspire you. Sign up for a weekly brief collating many news items into one untangled thought delivered straight to your mailbox.