Amand Knox’s Orange Is The New Black? Essay Describes Italy Prison Lesbian Incident

In an essay released on the occasion of Valentine’s Day, Netflix documentary star Amanda Knox described seduction attempts by a lesbian prison inmate who reportedly told her: “I can do things to you that no man can.” The incident took place while Knox was locked up in an Italian prison for the 2007 murder of her roommate, Meredith Kercher.

For those who didn’t follow the case, Knox spent almost four years in an Italian prison after being convicted of the 2007 murder of Kercher. Knox’s roommate was found brutally murdered in the house they shared in Perugia, Italy, on Nov. 1, 2007. Following conviction in the initial trial, Knox was sentenced to 26 years and her then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, was sentenced to 25 years.

After both appealed the decision in 2010, they were released for a while as the court found several errors made during the initial investigation. However, both Knox and Sollecito were found guilty again after a retrial by Italy’s highest court in 2013. Two years later, the pair made yet another appeal, which was ultimately accepted by the same court. She shot to fame in 2016 after a Netflix documentary based on her life titled ‘Amanda Knox’ was released.

In the essay titled “Amanda Knox: What Romance in Prison Actually Looks Like,” — released for “Love is a Hoax” series by Broadly, a website devoted to women’s issues — Knox said she and a small-time drug dealer named “Leny” became friendly over the course of the time she spent at Capanne prison in Umbria, Italy. However, Leny wanted more.

“I was cautiously friendly. We would walk the perimeter together. She told me she was a lesbian and I told her I was straight… at least initially, Leny might not have been trying to seduce me, and was actually just in need of someone kind to distract her from her loneliness… This is common. Contrary to what you might guess, many prison relationships aren’t about sex — just like most relationships outside of prison,” Knox wrote.

However, the 29-year-old Knox spurned her advances and said she felt “annoyed” and “objectified.”

“She’d think I was playing hard to get,” Knox said, and adding: “One day, Leny kissed me.” Following the incident, she broke all contact with Leny. Even after being released, Leny attempted to woo Knox from the outside.

“She sent me jazz CDs which she inscribed on the inside jacket, ‘Love always, Leny’…I never replied,” Knox wrote.

Knox pointed out that many women who described themselves as a heterosexual would often engage in homosexual relationships.

“The idea of women in prison brings out the horny teenage boy in many of us — perhaps it’s the implied lesbianism — but there’s also something deeper,” Knox wrote.

Reflecting on the incident and her experiences, Knox wrote that many women were seeking comfort in an unforgiving environment.