This article discusses sexual assault.
Back in 2008, Duffy was at the very peak of her music career. Who doesn’t still know every word to the chorus of Mercy? And let’s be honest, Warwick Avenue was an instant classic. Then, seemingly overnight, she disappeared.
After becoming one of the biggest pop stars of the 2000s with her debut album Rockferry, the Welsh singer vanished from the public eye. It wasn’t until 2020 that Duffy opened up about what happened in 2010 and why she stepped back from the spotlight.
Now, Duffy — whose full name is Aimée Anne Duffy — is set to share her full story in a new documentary, produced by Disney+ and Hulu Originals, with production scheduled to begin soon.
A press release promises “new, unprecedented access” to the Mercy singer, including her own reflections alongside interviews with friends, family and key figures from the music industry.
The documentary’s director, Gill Callan, said, “Duffy’s life has been shaped by success and fame, but equally by pain, defiance and an irrepressible sense of self. I’m drawn to the tension between vulnerability and confidence in her story and how a person can be deeply affected by their experiences, yet still find a powerful, expressive voice that is unmistakably hers.”
This will be her first in-depth interview about the ordeal.
What happened to Duffy?
In February 2020, Duffy revealed what happened to her in an Instagram post.
Duffy revealed that in 2010 she was “raped and drugged and held captive over some days.” She didn’t specify exactly when the attack occurred, but explained that being contacted by a journalist prompted her to finally share her story. She also invited fans to submit questions for a follow-up interview, though none were ultimately received.
“It’s harder than I thought,” Duffy admitted a month later in a statement read on Jo Whiley’s BBC Radio 2 show, as she unveiled Something Beautiful, her first new song since the ordeal. A few months later, she followed it with a second track, River in the Sky, marking a cautious but meaningful return to music.
While Duffy later deleted the Instagram post, she shared a more detailed account of her experiences in an essay on her official website.
Duffy wrote that she was drugged at a restaurant on her birthday, then held captive in her own home and taken abroad. “I can’t remember getting on the plane and came round in the back of a travelling vehicle. I was put into a hotel room, and the perpetrator returned and raped me. I remember the pain and trying to stay conscious in the room after it happened.”
She said the perpetrator made “veiled confessions of wanting to kill [her].” The four-week ordeal only ended when she managed to escape her perpetrator, and she added that she “cannot remember getting home.” She indicated that the perpetrator was “still at large."
After initially fearing to contact the police, Duffy eventually reported the attack after someone threatened to “out her.” She revealed that she had been at “high risk of suicide” in the aftermath and spent “almost 10 years completely alone,” estranged from her family.
Reflecting on the impact, she wrote that the attack "stole a lot from other people too. I was just not the same person for so long. Rape is like living murder, you are alive, but dead.”
With the help of a psychologist, Duffy said she is now finally able to “leave this decade behind.”
Duffy’s decision to share her story has resonated with survivors of sexual assault. Rape Crisis praised Duffy for her openness, with spokesperson Katie Russell saying, “Rape is still a very under-discussed, misunderstood and under-reported crime, so when someone like Duffy speaks out in such a powerful way it can make other survivors feel a little bit less alone and less ashamed – which is a very common emotion, no matter how unfounded."
Today – and every day – the women fighting for a safer future deserve their flowers.
When is Duffy’s documentary released?
The feature-length documentary does not yet have a release date.
At a keynote address, Disney+ head of content for Europe Angela Jain said, “She has entrusted us with her story, so we really have a huge responsibility to handle this with care and sensitivity, because she’s speaking about what happened to her for the first time.”
The channel's vice president of unscripted, Sean Doyle, remarked that he was "in awe" of the singer for sharing her story.
We can only hope this documentary provides Duffy with the space to tell her story fully, on her own terms.
For more information about reporting and recovering from rape and sexual abuse, you can contact Rape Crisis on 0808 500 2222.
If you have been sexually assaulted, you can find your nearest Sexual Assault Referral Centre here. You can also find support at your local GP, voluntary organisations such as Rape Crisis, Women's Aid, and Victim Support, and you can report it to the police (if you choose) here.
