Amanda Knox and Monica Lewinsky: How they recaptured their narrative

They were headlines for the world press, became symbolic figures for scandal and shame – and had to live with the consequences for years. Today Monica Lewinsky (51) and Amanda Knox (38) want to tell their stories themselves. In the joint interview, the two of them talked about how they found each other, helped each other and how it created a TV series about Knox ‘fate.

In 2017, during a lecture in a US university, the two women met for the first time. Knox, whose face, after the murder of Perugia in 2007, dominated the title pages for years, asked to speak Lewinsky personally. “She gave me a lot of advice on how I can regain my voice and my own story”, “it became a turning point for me.”

Even Lewinsky, who was in the center of the Clinton scandal in the 1990s, realized in Knox: “When we met, I saw the same pain that I knew. She absolutely wanted to break out of the cage that she had been put into. But you don’t often see her history back. I was lucky that I could still trust people. “

A friendship developed from this encounter – and finally a collaboration. Lewinsky and Knox jointly produced the new Hulu mini series “The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox”, which has been available since August 20. Eight episodes not only tell the murder of Meredith Kercher and the subsequent judicial marathon in Italy, but also the destructive role of the media.

“It would have been easy to have the series ended according to my hands -up,” said Knox. “But the actual story begins afterwards – if the headlines fall silent and you have to put together your life again.”

Lewinsky adds: “We didn’t want black and white story. It’s not about ‘Who was?’, But ‘How could that happen?’ How could a 20-year-old exchange student be demonized as a female fatal demonized?

Both women openly talk about the aftermath of their scandals that are noticeable to this day. Knox remembers the time after her release: “There is no longer anonymity. But the last thing I wanted after my release was to be locked up in a house that windows I could not even look out of – back into the world, but with a new prison around me.” Lewinsky confesses that she is still afraid for decades after the affair scandal: “What if I make a mistake and lose everything? This is very real.”

But both have learned to actively use the public: Lewinsky produces TV projects, Knox moderates true crime podcasts. “Media are not bad per se; they are a tool. If you were on the wrong side, you learn to share the power to share information – and to do the responsibility to do this ethically, fair, compassionate and human,” says Knox.

Knox wishes that the audience will primarily take a message from the eight episode long series: “Ultimately, I wanted to look for human connection after all the ostracism and prison … I wanted people to be able to understand my experience. That they say: ‘I understand.'” She adds: “Nobody should tell your story except yourself.”