‘Guilt’ Coming To Freeform: Look At The Amanda Knox Comparisons

Tonight is the start of a new show, Guilt, on Freeform, and viewers couldn’t be more excited about this show. One thing about Guilt that viewers are going to notice right away is the fact that this show is very similar to the Amanda Knox story. The New York Post shared that Billy Zane of Guilt is speaking out and sharing the details of why Guilt is so similar to the Amanda Knox story, but don’t expect it to all be the same.

One thing you will notice right away is that Guilt is about an American student that is living in London. On Guilt, her roommate ends up getting murdered, and she is the prime suspect. Amanda Knox spent almost four years in an Italian prison for the 2007 murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher. She was released in 2015 and is back living in the United States again. Guilt will seem so similar to this case, but once you get past the part of the murder, this story is really going to change.

.@GuiltTV Co-Creator Reveals Why @FreeformTV New Crime Drama Is Not About Amanda Knox Case https://t.co/dfZnU457SR pic.twitter.com/2ih2ZpxMLC

— TheWrap (@TheWrap) June 13, 2016

Billy Zane, who plays ex-pat defense lawyer Stan Gutterie on Guilt, said that this is the only thing similar in Guilt. You will see it start out showing that the main girl on Guilt is a suspect in the murder of her roommate, but that is all that will be the same. The rest of Guilt is its own story and nothing to do with the Amanda Knox story. Billy Zane went on to share more details about Guilt.

“To not mention that there’s a correlation would be remiss, but it has nothing really to do with the character, the person or that particular case other than female American foreign exchange student accused of murder. What’s curious is this particular story is living in the very public now. The social platforms didn’t exist in that [Knox] case, the smartphones were not so clever.”

USA Today shared about why Guilt will be a fan favorite this summer. Guilt is full of suspense and is a great show with amazing acting according to the early reviews. This show is a bit sexy for Freeform, considering they show secret sex clubs and more, but it looks like a show you don’t want to miss.

The Wrap shared a few more details about why Guilt isn’t the same as the Amanda Knox case. Guilt co-creator Nichole Millard shared that they were inspired by this case, but also by others such as JonBenet Ramsey or Casey Anthony. When asked about Guilt being the same as the Amanda Knox case, Nichole shared her thoughts.

“I get that. The show was inspired more by the idea that these sort of cases, like Amanda Knox or JonBenet Ramsay [sic] or Casey Anthony, they take on a life of their own. The media takes such a role in public perception of whether this person is innocent or guilty. That was our inspiration. And beyond that, setting it in London was just an opportunity for us to open up a number of worlds … We have a character that we’ll meet in Episode 2 who’s a young reporter. She’s very aggressive and she sees the Grace Atwood case as a way to make a name for herself. She’ll sort of be our entry into that world.”

She also shared that in Guilt by the end of the first 10 episodes, you will know who killed Molly Ryan and why it happened. Guilt fans won’t be left trying to figure this out for several seasons if the show Guilt is renewed.

Are you surprised at how little Guilt is like the Amanda Knox story? Do you think that Guilt is going to be one of your favorite new shows this summer? Sound off in the comments section below, and don’t miss new episodes of Guilt on Mondays on Freeform.

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