Amanda Knox now says that her wedding registry site, which she tweeted to her 40,600 followers and which originally openly asked for financial help for her space-themed wedding before it was changed late Wednesday, is not an attempt at crowd funding the nuptials set for Leap Day, February 29, 2020. The site, which offers 18 options to donate between $25 and $10,000 earmarked for everything from a time machine to the open bar, was created by Knox and her fiancé poet Christopher Robinson.
Before the backlash, Knox and Robinson had written that they weren’t expecting to be planning a wedding and Amanda’s first ever return trip to Italy at the same time. They then went on to say that “with scant time to plan, and no financial backing, we had to spend our wedding funds on this challenging and important journey.” The Italy Innocence Project has since confirmed to The Daily Beast and others that they did pay Knox’s airfare and lodging for the conference, as they did for all the guest speakers.
After the backlash, the couple removed any reference to their Italian trip, wedding fund or financial woes and changed the words “we’re asking for help” to “we’re accepting donations.”
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Knox’s denials were published by ABC News and The Stranger website, which have both consistently supported her claims of innocence over her original conviction and final acquittal in the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, in 2007.
Knox told ABC News that she did not mean for anyone to confuse inviting donations for crowd funding. “I did not put it out there expecting to get a dime from anyone,” Knox told ABC, despite the handy buttons provided to do just that. “Our wedding registry was never meant to be a crowdfunding source. It was meant for our family and friends and any well-wishers that I have.”
She then added, “I have a lot of haters in this world but I have a lot of family, friends and supporters as well. I wanted to share with them this fun, creative idea.”
In an interview with the Seattle-based The Stranger website, Knox said she had expected a certain amount of backlash, but not the extent she and Robinson received. “I always anticipate that there is a strong contingent of people out there who are going to view everything I do in the worst possible light, and the tabloids are always going to view things in the worst possible light,” she said. “They’ve always reliably done that. But crazily enough, I admit that I did not anticipate the amount of vitriol. I should have.”
Knox and her fiancé launched the registry, which is not password-protected or restricted to guests, earlier this week on social media. “Let’s face it, we don’t need any more stuff. So please, no gifts, and no pressure,” the couple write. “But if you feel so inclined, we welcome help putting on the best party ever for our family and friends! Instead of a traditional registry, we’re accepting donations towards the cost of the wedding.”
Knox received immediate backlash for the plea for donations on social media, with a number of people writing that while they supported her innocence in the murder accusations, asking for people to pay for her wedding was a step too far.
Knox sought to calm the situation with her own tweet blaming the press for picking up on the registry, the link to which she tweeted.
“To those hating on us all day, you’ve been duped by the outrage machine. You gave ad $ to tabloids that profit by making you angry about things that don't matter,” she wrote. “Our wedding will be crazy & fun & barebones if it needs to be, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't matter.”
The publicity did not apparently lead to a wedding preparation windfall. “We got a handful of donations,” Knox said in her interview with The Stranger. “And a truckful of hate.”
Editor’s note: Barbie Latza Nadeau is the author of Angel Face: Sex, Murder and the Inside Story of Amanda Knox, which was adapted for film in 2014.
