Casey Anthony Swiftly Enters And Exits the Grifter Economy

Despite the deeply suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of her daughter, Caylee Anthony, Anthony was cleared of the most serious charges, convicted only on four counts of providing false information to law enforcement. 

Though sentenced to four years, she received credit for time served (three years in county jail while awaiting trial) and was released just ten days later. Anthony’s bizarre behavior, such as conducting alarming internet searches for terms like “neck breaking,” “chloroform,” “household weapons,” and “foolproof suffocation,” combined with her infamous clubbing while Caylee was missing earned her the unenviable title of America's most hated mom. 

Now, she’s rebranding, or trying to, as a legal advocate, researcher, and advocate for the LGBTQ community and women’s rights. In a three minute TikTok, Anthony propositions herself as a legal advocate who’s “been in the legal field since 2011,” presumably referencing her murder trial. "In this capacity, I feel that it's necessary if I'm going to continue to operate appropriately as a legal advocate that I start to advocate for myself and also advocate for my daughter.”

Anthony makes mention of her parents George and Cindy Anthony, cryptically commenting that while her content isn’t about her parents or the things they’ve said and done, she will be responding to them at some point. Anthony’s relationship with her parents is famously fraught. She claimed Caylee drowned in her parent’s swimming pool under her father’s watch and that he covered up her death when he discovered she had drowned. She also accused her father of sexually abusing her as a child. George Anthony vehemently denies this and both of Anthony’s parents have publicly doubted her innocence. 

So, what’s Anthony trying to do exactly, become an influencer? Something like that—a legal influencer. “The whole point of this is for me to begin to reintroduce myself” she says. Her motivations are both personal and professional. "My goal is to continue to help give a voice to people, to give people tools and resources that they can utilize so they actually know where they can turn to,” she says, as she promotes a newly launched Substack account. 

That’s not all, though. If you’d like legal advice or information from none other than Casey Anthony, she mentions in the next breath that people will be able to enter email correspondence with her strictly on the basis of legal matters. Online commentators have joked that Casey Anthony “rebranding as a legal advocate is like Jeffrey Dahmer opening a steakhouse."

She mentions wanting to use the platform that’s been thrust upon her and view it as a “blessing” rather than “the curse that it has been since 2008.” This sounds eerily familiar to her first failed attempt at having an internet presence back in 2011, when she tried to launch a video diary series, but got ran off the internet. 

The first video entry was jarringly nonchalant and absent of any seeming grief over the tragic death of her child and the reasonable suspicion that she was responsible. Half way through her ramblings, she says, "I don't know, this has just been a blessing in so many ways." The comments are flooded with negative comments accusing her of being a tone deaf narcissist. 

Though she currently has 70.9k followers on TikTok and more than 4k subscribers on Substack, the backlash has been unanimous and overwhelming. Anthony was forced to lock her TikTok comment section, but other copycat accounts who have reposted her video get flooded with vitriol branding her a “child killer.” 

Likewise, Anthony has been caught up in back-and-forth arguments in the comments of her Substack posts between lib-posting of articles like Breaking: Reports Emerge of MAGA-Men Groups Infiltrating LGBTQ+ Communities Across All 50 States with Alleged Violent Intent and simping for DEI. 

Amusingly, the “legal advocate,” now weaponizing allyship with various “marginalized” groups for clout, is oscillating between emphasizing the importance of freedom of speech, privacy, and knowing your rights—and threatening everyone on Substack to "heed [their] words" lest she sue you for libel and slander. 

"You don't have to be a Florida resident to be charged,” Anthony warns. She continues, “Jurisdiction is where the crime was committed, usually. If it's over the internet, and you're saying something hateful, Slanderous, Libel, threatening, bullying, Etc., the Recipient party can request the jurisdiction be in the state where they live, not where you committed the act. The internet is not a protected place." She then drops an amazing one-liner: "You need to educate yourself before you implicate yourself."

Social media rejoiced when Anthony shut down her X account following the lack of warm reception to her sudden attempts at a comeback. TikTokers revisited the shocking case and called for us to keep Caylee’s memory alive. Anthony faced condemnation from fellow celebrities like Bethenny Frankel, Gypsy Rose Blanchard, and of course Anthony’s number one nemesis: Nancy Grace. 

One thing is for sure: people don’t want to hear anything from Casey Anthony short of an explanation, an apology, or a mere acknowledgement of the little girl who was taken from this world far too soon.