Petition to cancel Amanda Knox's Edinburgh Fringe show at almost 30,000 signatures

Ms Knox was convicted and later acquitted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher in 2007.

A petition launched by a friend of the Kercher family claims that the show, which is performed at the Gilded Balloon at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, turns her rape and murder into "entertainment".

The petition has been backed by Meredith's sister, Stephanie, who appeared on BBC Breakfast on Thursday.

Read more here: I went to Amanda Knox's first Fringe show and here is everything that happened

She addressed Amanda Knox directly, saying: “This will be the only opportunity [I will take to speak to her] and I would say to say to her, she has the opportunity to live her life as she pleases - an opportunity Meredith hasn’t had - and it’s not for me to tell her how to live her life.

“I would say is [she should] think about her family here, think about her friends and turn the tables, if it was your sister it had happened to, as I know you have a sister as well, how would you feel if there was someone up there associating this with her still and how would you feel if this was your daughter in years to come? Because I think the legacy you leave there is potentially different.”

A spokeswoman for Ms Knox said: “Cartwheel is a show about motherhood, raising a daughter in a world that is unfair and dangerous for women, and what it costs to be the kind of mother who tells her the truth about that.

“Neither the author of this petition nor anyone who signed it has seen Cartwheel. The petition contains false assumptions and mischaracterises the show.

“Cartwheel honours Meredith Kercher’s memory.

“A petition to cancel a show no one has seen, on the grounds of false accusations intended to shame and vilify a wronged woman into silence, is not an argument against Cartwheel. It's a fairly precise description of what Cartwheel is about and why it deserves to exist.”