In a letter sent to the New York Post and obtained by TVNewser, Amanda Knox’s father Curt Knox disputes what was written in Page Six today about news organizations allegedly “babysitting” his two youngest daughters.
Specifically, Knox argues that while ABC News provided its producer’s hotel room for his daughters to stay in during the trial, at no time did the producer “babysit” the children. He writes that a CBS News producer also provided a hotel room for them to stay in during the day (a claim CBS denies, below), and that an NBC News producer offered them a room to use if they needed one, (NBC’s response, also below):
One of ABC’s producers, Nikki Battiste, was very kind to offer to let the girls stay in her hotel room during court sessions. However, the NY Post article refers to this kind gesture as “babysitting”. This is an outright lie, as at no point in time did Ms. Battiste stay in the room and babysit my younger children. She was accomplishing her required job functions in the courtroom and during shoots with Elizabeth Vargas and various other talent. I would like to clarify again that at “no point in time” was Ms. Battiste EVER babysitting my younger daughters.
AdvertisementFurther clarification to this NY Post article is the mis-information related to the other networks, NBC and CBS. During one of the morning court sessions, Ashley
and Delaney stayed in Sabina Castelfranco’s room (CBS producer). In this case as well, my younger daughters were not being baby-sat. There were additional offers from NBC’s (Stephanie Siegel) to allow my younger daughters to stay in her room as well.
And while the young Knox daughters may have stayed in the CBS News producer’s room, a spokesperson tells TVNewser, “CBS News did not grant permission to any member of Amanda Knox’s family to use our hotel room in Perugia. Producer Sabina Castelfranco was asked if her room was available. Castelfranco declined the request and checked out of the hotel.” [Yesterday, CBS News told the Post, “At no time did any member of Amanda Knox’s family occupy CBS News hotel rooms in Perugia.”]
ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider tells the UK’s DailyMail, the Post story is “full of lies,” and directed his ire at his competitors: “NBC and CBS will say [the Knox girls did not stay in their hotel rooms], but they are lying.”
NBC News tells TVNewser, “While we would never speak for another network, or accuse them of lying, at no time did NBC News provide hotel rooms or babysitting services for any members of the Knox family. But most importantly our best wishes are with Amanda and her family as they move on with their lives.”
In his letter to the Post, Curt Knox also said that while producers for ABC and NBC News did accompany his wife and daughters on a shopping trip, they did not make any purchases for the family.
Here is the complete text of Knox’s letter:
This is Curt Knox. I am Amanda Knox’s father and father to Ashley and Delaney Knox in which the NY Post article is referring to below.
I would like to provide some clarification in order to have this story corrected.
The article discussed my concerns for my younger daughters well being while my wife (Cassandra) and I were attending court sessions for Amanda’s appeals trial.
One of ABC’s producers, Nikki Battiste, was very kind to offer to let the girls stay in her hotel room during court sessions. However, the NY Post article refers to this kind gesture as “babysitting”. This is an outright lie, as at no point in time did Ms. Battiste stay in the room and babysit my younger children. She was accomplishing her required job functions in the courtroom and during shoots with Elizabeth Vargas and various other talent. I would like to clarify again that at “no point in time” was Ms. Battiste EVER babysitting my younger daughters.
Further clarification to this NY Post article is the mis-information related to the other networks, NBC and CBS. During one of the morning court sessions, Ashley and Delaney stayed in Sabina Castelfranco’s room (CBS producer). In this case as well, my younger daughters were not being baby-sat. There were additional offers from NBC’s (Stephanie Siegel) to allow my younger daughters to stay in her room as well.
I would also like to point out the mis-information of this article in the hopes to set the record straight on the comments that Ms. Battiste “coddled” my younger daughters by taking them shopping and to cafes. The real story is that Ms. Battiste along with Stephanie Siegel of NBC joined my wife Cassandra along with Ashley and Delaney on a short shopping walk through the main shopping area of Perugia. At no point in time were any purchases made on behalf of any of my family members by either Ms. Battiste or Ms. Siegel.
To provide some context to the “cafe” comments, you need to create a picture of the scene within Perugia and more specifically the main interview area of the U.S. networks. This picture/location was the Brufanie Hotel. Outside the hotel and overlooking the entire valley were the tents and location setups for mainly ABC and NBC. Also, outside the hotel was the outdoor seating of the Brufani Hotel. My younger daughters would often times have to wait many hours as I was doing interviews for the various international as well as US networks. During these extended periods of time, various producers from each of the US networks would sit with and talk to my younger daughters and my wife in order to pass the time while I was away.
Can I get the record straight on this very misleading article by the NY Post??
Regards,
Curt Knox