Duffy says she was ‘raped, drugged and held captive’

‘I did not want to show the sadness in my eyes’: British singer explains absence from music

British singer Duffy on Tuesday explained a long absence from the music scene by saying she had been “raped and drugged and held captive”.

Duffy (35), who had big hits with single Mercy in 2008 and her debut album Rockferry, wrote in an Instagram post that she was "ok and safe now" but said it had taken her time to recover from the ordeal.

The Welsh soul singer won a Grammy in 2009 for Rockferry and three Brit Awards but largely removed herself from the limelight after the release of her second, less successful, album in 2010. She performed at an Edith Piaf tribute concert in New York in 2013 and took a small movie role in the 2015 British crime film Legend but has rarely been seen or heard of since.

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You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this. The way I would write it, how I would feel thereafter. Well, not entirely sure why now is the right time, and what it is that feels exciting and liberating for me to talk. I cannot explain it. Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why. A journalist contacted me, he found a way to reach me and I told him everything this past summer. He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak. The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it. But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine. You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it unbroke. In the following weeks I will be posting a spoken interview. If you have any questions I would like to answer them, in the spoken interview, if I can. I have a sacred love and sincere appreciation for your kindness over the years. You have been friends. I want to thank you for that x Duffy Please respect this is a gentle move for me to make, for myself, and I do not want any intrusion to my family. Please support me to make this a positive experience.

A post shared by @ duffy on

“Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why,” she wrote. “The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time.”

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She did not say who had held her captive or when but said she would be posting an audio interview in the coming weeks in which she would answer any questions.

“You wonder why I did not choose to use my voice to express my pain? I did not want to show the world the sadness in my eyes. I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it unbroke,” she added.

Duffy’s representatives from 2010 did not immediately return a request for comment on Tuesday on the posting.

–Reuters