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Brittany Romano came to the Lindsay Clancy murder trial to report on one of the most controversial criminal cases in recent memory.
She left the courtroom as the woman at the center of a bizarre viral scandal.
Romano, a journalist who had been credentialed by Vanity Fair to cover the trial, found herself facing a social media firestorm this week after cameras inside the courtroom caught her smiling and appearing to wink directly at the camera.
Not a great look at a triple-murder trial.
The footage, captured during Monday’s proceedings, quickly spread across social media, where viewers criticized Romano’s behavior as wildly inappropriate given the circumstances.
And it didn’t help that Romano reportedly had a personal connection to Lindsay Clancy.
Vanity Fair had been interested in having Romano write a personal essay about growing up with Clancy.
But following the viral incident, the magazine decided that particular arrangement had officially entered the “maybe this wasn’t such a great idea” category.
In a statement to The New York Post, the magazine confirmed that it had pulled the planned essay and revoked Romano’s credentials.
“We were interested in the prospect of a personal essay by Brittany Romano about her experience growing up with Lindsay Clancy,” the magazine said, adding that it ultimately found “clear conflicts” with its editorial standards and processes.
Romano, meanwhile, was not exactly eager to accept the internet’s verdict.
In a lengthy Instagram statement, she defended the now-infamous facial expression and argued that smiling does not mean she was treating the proceedings as a joke.
“I smile through anxiety,” Romano explained. “I smile when I’m uncomfortable.”
She also claimed that her behavior was directed toward family members watching the courtroom livestream and insisted that the viral moment had been completely misunderstood.
But Romano’s response quickly became almost as controversial as the original video.
She said she had received horrific online harassment, including messages telling her to kill herself and threats against her life.
“A smile is not a crime,” Romano wrote. “Telling a woman to slit her wrists is.”
Whatever one thinks of Romano’s courtroom etiquette, there’s little doubt that the internet has once again demonstrated its remarkable ability to turn a few seconds of video into a full-blown public spectacle.
And this particular spectacle is unfolding around a trial involving the deaths of three children.
Lindsay Clancy is accused of killing her three children in 2023. Her defense has argued that she was suffering from severe postpartum psychosis, while prosecutors have challenged that explanation.
The trial is now nearing its conclusion.
As for Romano, she won’t be covering the proceedings for Vanity Fair.
Turns out, one little wink can apparently have a very expensive editorial consequence. And Brittany’s career might never recover.
Brittany Romano: Reporter Who Smiled, Winked at Lindsay Clancy Trial Fired By Vanity Fair was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.