In a lengthy Instagram post published Wednesday, British singer Duffy revealed that her sudden departure from the music industry in the late 2000s was due to a traumatic experience in which she was allegedly drugged, raped, and held captive for multiple days.
“You can only imagine the amount of times I thought about writing this,” Duffy started the post. “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,” she continued, “where did I disappear to and why.”
After a journalist contacted her, the singer explained, “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,” revealed Duffy.
“Of course I survived,” she said. “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.”
Duffy said she only came forward now to tell her story because she “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?” the post continued. “And slowly it unbroke.”
The singer revealed that the audio interview she recorded with the unnamed male journalist will be released in coming weeks.
“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,” the singer signed off, adding: “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.”
As noted by Variety, Duffy had a budding career in the late 2000s, seemingly “poised for the kind of massive neo-soul career that Adele has enjoyed in her wake.” But since her departure from music, until now, Duffy “usually ended up pointing to statements she made during and after the promotion cycle of her second album about her disaffection for all that came with being a star” to explain her absence from the industry.
Duffy is best known for her 2008 hit single “Mercy,” which peaked at No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100, Fox News reported, adding that the musical talent earned a Grammy award for best pop vocal album for “Rockferry” in 2008. Duffy also stacked up two “two more nominations in the same year for best new artist and best female pop vocal performance with ‘Mercy,'” Fox noted.
Duffy released another album in 2010, titled “Endlessly,” before largely leaving the industry, CNN noted.