The Lindsay Clancy trial has taken an unexpected turn after journalist Brittany Romano faced intense online criticism over a brief moment in the courtroom that showed her smiling and appearing to wink at a camera.
Romano, who said she grew up with Clancy, has since defended her reaction and claimed she is now receiving death threats and abusive messages. The controversy also led Vanity Fair to withdraw a planned personal essay and inform the court that Romano was no longer credentialed by the magazine.
Reporter’s courtroom smile sparks backlash
The incident happened Monday at Plymouth Superior Court in Massachusetts as a camera livestreaming the trial panned across the courtroom gallery. Romano, who was wearing a green dress, was captured smiling toward the camera and appearing to wink.
The brief clip quickly spread on social media, where viewers questioned how a journalist could appear cheerful during a trial involving the deaths of three children.
The case has attracted intense attention because Clancy, 36, is accused of killing her three children at the family’s Duxbury home in January 2023. Her defense does not dispute that she killed the children but argues that she was suffering from severe mental illness, including postpartum psychosis. Prosecutors maintain that she was criminally responsible for her actions.
Brittany Romano explains why she was smiling
Romano later pushed back against the criticism, saying the expression captured on camera did not mean she was indifferent to the case. “I smile through anxiety. I smile when I'm uncomfortable,” Romano said in response to the backlash.
