Amanda Knox has found comfort in “the sisterhood of ill repute.”
Speaking at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center at the University of Southern California to a crowd of over 200 people at the L.A. Times Festival of Books on Saturday, Knox was candid about connecting with other women who she says have been publicly vilified.
Monica Lewinsky was the first of that group that she met, and she said their relationship has been meaningful.
“She showed me that there was a path forward for regaining a sense of authorship over your own life,” Knox said to the event’s moderator, The Times’ Amy Kaufman.
In 2007, while studying abroad in Italy, Knox was wrongfully convicted of murdering her roommate, Meredith Kercher, and spent nearly four years in prison before she was eventually exonerated.
Knox described meeting Lewinsky when they were both speaking at the same event years ago. It was the first time Knox was sharing her story in front of a crowd and she asked to meet with Lewinsky, whose writing and public speaking she said she had “devoured” in preparation. “I felt very seen and understood by this person, even before I ever met her,” Knox said.
“She’s very much like a big sister to me at this point, and I’m just so grateful that she’s in my life,” she added.
Knox and Lewinsky are collaborating as producers on the upcoming Hulu series about Knox’s experience being wrongfully accused and convicted, titled “Amanda.” The series was created by K.J. Steinberg and is still in development.
Knox has been vocal about Hollywood’s handling of true crime stories in the past. She said she is grateful to have a say in the latest of a long string of media about her life.
“A source might actually be a huge wealth of creativity, and maybe should have some kind of say in the way their story is told,” she said.
