Casey Anthony was acquitted in the 2008 murder of her two-year-old daughter, but the ordeal made her, as one Department of Corrections spokeswoman famously put it, “one of the most hated women in America.”
This week, she joined TikTok and Substack, rebranding as a “legal advocate.” In her first TikTok, which has been viewed over 4.1 million times, Anthony says she has been in the legal field since 2011, though she didn’t note what her involvement has been (and it’s possible that she’s referring to the year her murder trial started). “My goal is to continue to help give a voice to people, to give people tools and resources that they can utilize,” Anthony said in the video, urging viewers to subscribe to her Substack, a platform where creators send out newsletters. “We’ll see how this goes,” the video ends. Comments on the video are disabled but it has been shared nearly 64,000 times. Fellow TikTokers are skeptical, to put it mildly. (“Casey Anthony rebranding herself as a legal advocate is like Jeffrey Dahmer opening a steakhouse,” reads one.) It’s been a while since she’s been in the news, so who is Anthony, what was her case, and why are people so upset she’s back in the public eye?
Who is Casey Anthony?
Anthony, 38, became a tabloid fixture when her toddler daughter Caylee was reported missing in July 2008. Casey’s mother, Cindy Anthony, called 911 and said she hadn’t seen her granddaughter in a month; Cindy also said that her daughter’s car smelled like there had been a dead body in it. One day after Cindy reported Caylee missing, Casey was arrested and charged with child neglect, giving false statements, and obstruction. One week after Caylee was reported missing, Casey was declared a “person of interest” in her daughter’s disappearance. Investigators found damaging evidence against her, including internet searches for chloroform and neck-breaking and traces of human decomposition in the trunk of her car. Casey maintained her innocence, claiming her daughter had been kidnapped by a babysitter.
What was Casey Anthony arrested for?
In October 2008, Casey Anthony was indicted on first-degree murder charges in connection with her daughter’s death, though the toddler’s body hadn’t been found. Two months later, in December of 2008, a meter reader found Caylee’s skeletal remains less than a mile from Casey’s parents house.
Casey’s trial, which would become one of the most widely-watched criminal trials in history with 40 million people tuning in, began in May 2011. Though she had initially claimed her daughter had been abducted by a babysitter, on the first day of the murder trial, the defense offered a new explanation: the toddler had accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool and Casey’s parents had known their granddaughter was dead throughout the entire months-long search for her. Casey also claimed her father, George Anthony, helped her cover up the accidental death by burying Caylee in the backyard. The defense, led by Jose Baez, also claimed that Casey was sexually abused and molested by her father, which he has denied. In a 2018 special called Casey Anthony’s Parents Speak, George said he thought Casey was “absolutely” involved in Caylee’s death, while Cindy said she still believed that Caylee drowned in the family pool.
What happened in Casey Anthony’s trial?
After 90 witnesses over 33 days of testimony, the trial ended and Casey was found not guilty on counts including first-degree murder, manslaughter, and child abuse though she was convicted on four counts of lying to police, for which she was sentenced to four years in prison and a $4,000 fine. Though the verdict was shocking, one juror told People that there wasn’t enough to satisfy the burden of proof: “She seems like a horrible person. But the prosecutors did not give us enough evidence to convict. They gave us a lot of stuff that makes us think she probably did something wrong, but not beyond a reasonable doubt.” Another juror told the St. Petersburg Times, “I wish we had more evidence to put her away.” Just 10 days after her sentencing, Casey was released from jail with credit for time served.
Where is Casey Anthony now?
Since her infamous acquittal, Casey has kept a mostly low-profile. In 2011, she gave a rare interview to the Associated Press in which she maintained her innocence. “I didn’t do what I was accused of,” she said. “I don’t give a shit about what anyone thinks about me, I never will. I’m okay with myself, I sleep pretty good at night.”
Casey didn’t seem to have public social media profiles until this week when she joined TikTok and Substack. She has since amassed 61,300 followers on TikTok, and says she’s going to be setting up an email where people can reach out to her about legal issues. “As a proponent for the lGBTQ community, for the legal community, for women’s rights, I feel that it’s important that I use this platform that was thrust upon me and now look at [as] as a blessing instead of the curse it has been since 2008.”
In her first TikTok, Casey urged viewers to subscribe to her Substack, a blogging platform on which creators send out newsletters, where she is writing under the handle @therealcaseyanthony. Around 2,700 people have subscribed to her newsletter.
Casey’s bio on Substack reads, “Everyone seems to have an opinion — about me, and about my life. I am an advocate, a researcher. These are my words, this is my REAL life.” In a series of Notes posted on Substack, Casey warns against the “constant rush to judgment” and “the rights of the main [that] are compromised by the elected few.” One Note ends, “Do you know who you would call today if something catastrophic occurred in your life or in the life of someone you care for?”
From Rolling Stone US
