Welsh singer-songwriter Duffy, known for her 2008 hit 'Mercy', is set to speak publicly for the first time about her kidnapping and sexual assault in a new Disney+ documentary. The announcement was made at Series Mania by Angela Jain, Disney+’s head of content for EMEA.
Jain described the feature-length Hulu Original documentary as a 'really powerful project', adding that Duffy has entrusted the streaming service with her story. '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,' Jain said.
According to a press release, the film will traverse Duffy’s life from her upbringing in Wales through her meteoric rise to fame and withdrawal from public life after her 'unfathomable experience'. It will feature unprecedented access to Duffy, archival material, and interviews with family, friends, and music industry peers. The documentary is directed by Gill Callan.
In a 2020 social media post, Duffy revealed she had been drugged at a restaurant on her birthday, kidnapped, and taken to a foreign country for four weeks. She wrote that her perpetrator made 'veiled confessions of wanting to kill me'. She did not disclose his name, citing fear for her safety.
Duffy said she initially did not go to the police because she felt it was unsafe, but eventually did. She described feeling 'petrified' since. Regarding a return to music, she said at the time: 'I’m doing this to be freed, for all of me to be freed. What follows remains to be seen.'
The documentary is produced by Rare TV and Stellify Media, and commissioned by Disney+ UK in collaboration with Northern Ireland Screen through a development fund to support the local production sector.
