Incident at Trial
A reporter covering the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy drew widespread criticism after appearing to smile and wink at a courtroom camera during the proceedings. The moment, captured on a livestream provided by CourtTV on Monday, August 24, showed a woman in a green dress grinning as the camera panned across the gallery, according to video footage.
The woman was identified as Brittany Romano, a New York City-based journalist who contributes to magazines including Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Teen Vogue, as reported by Fox News. Romano had been following the trial and posting about the case on her social media profiles, according to the same outlet.
The Trial and Its Context
Lindsay Clancy is on trial for the 2023 strangling deaths of her three children—Cora, 5, Dawson, 3, and Callan, 8 months—in the family's Duxbury, Massachusetts home. Clancy does not deny the charges, but her defense argues she is not criminally responsible because she was suffering from undiagnosed postpartum psychosis at the time of the killings, as reported by Fox News.
Social Media Backlash
The clip of Romano's demeanor went viral, and several social media users voiced strong criticism. One person wrote on X: "Ok, this is a lunatic move. Her name is Brittany Romano and she works for Vanity Fair. Deplorable behavior. 3 children are dead and this fool is acting like that??? Disgusting." Another wrote: "Imagine treating a trial for three murdered children like a red carpet photo op, and then being arrogant enough to lash out when people call out your complete lack of basic empathy. Unbelievable." A third commenter said: "My god, the narcissism is literally dripping off of her face. She cannot be more happy to have a camera on her."
Romano's Response
Following the hearing, Romano was approached outside the courtroom by a social media user who asked why she was smiling. In a video posted to X, she explained that she had grown up with Clancy and was smiling for her father after he had told her she looked sad when he saw her on TV, as reported by Us Weekly and Fox News. Fox News reported that in a video, Romano said, "I was laughing because I grew up with Lindsay."
Romano later defended her actions in a now-deleted post, writing, "I'm actually proud of myself because these trolls have been absolutely vile," according to Fox News. In Instagram stories shared on August 24, she posted screenshots of what she described as nasty messages and said she had been told to kill herself. She also wrote sarcastically, "All for smiling at a camera?! Love it! Tysm for boosting my analytics Xoxoxoxo," and showed that a post had garnered over 100 comments, 24 likes, and 100 new followers, as reported by Us Weekly.
Vanity Fair Severs Ties
In the wake of the incident, Romano lost her credentials with Vanity Fair. The outlet announced on Tuesday, August 25, that it planned to stop working with her. In a statement attributed to the New York Post, Vanity Fair said: "We were interested in the prospect of a personal essay by Brittany Romano about her experience growing up with Lindsay Clancy. Yesterday, after clear conflicts with our editorial standards and processes, we informed Romano that we were not moving forward with her essay and informed the court that she is no longer credentialed by Vanity Fair."
Additional Details
Fox News also noted that Romano recently posed for a selfie with Clancy's attorney, Kevin Reddington, and that the outlet reached out to the court and Romano for comment. The incident has drawn attention to the conduct of journalists covering high-profile trials, though the trial itself continues to focus on the legal arguments over Clancy's mental state at the time of the killings.