Amanda Hirsch, creator of the "Not Skinny But Not Fat" podcast and host of Hulu's "Get Real," apologized on Sunday for a sponsored post connecting betting platform Polymarket to the Lindsay Clancy trial. In a now-deleted Friday post published after the judge declared a mistrial, Hirsch noted that Polymarket users had predicted a not guilty verdict, tagging the post with #Polymarketpartner.
The post drew swift criticism, which escalated after Hirsch continued posting to Instagram on Saturday. In a Sunday apology posted to her main feed with comments disabled, Hirsch said she had "completely lost perspective" and called the pairing of a brand partnership with discussion of the trial "completely insensitive, wrong, and out of character for me." She wrote: "I became so consumed by the trial that I completely lost perspective and didn't stop to think about how grossly inappropriate it was to discuss something this tragic in that context."
Hirsch, who is a mother, said the case had deeply affected her and that she followed it constantly. "I made a terrible judgment call and I feel so fucking awful about that," she wrote, adding that she was "horrified by the choice I made" and that the lapse in judgment did not represent who she is as a person.
Several days before the Polymarket post, Hirsch had shared her conflicted feelings about the case, expressing compassion for Clancy while criticizing conspiracy theories accusing Patrick Clancy of killing their three children. She emphasized keeping the children central to the narrative, writing: "Three babies were killed. They had their entire lives ahead of them. Yes, their mother was very sick. That is devastating. But it wasn't their fault."
Prediction markets like Polymarket have faced criticism for their role in major public events. In the spring, Variety reported that both Polymarket and Kalshi spoiled the winner of "Survivor's" 50th season, prompting host Jeff Probst to criticize the platforms. The Clancy trial was declared a mistrial after a holdout juror appeared to disagree with an insanity acquittal, prompting speculation in some circles about the juror's potential involvement with prediction markets.
