Singer Duffy 'drugged, raped and held captive'
26 February, 2020
Grammy award-winning singer Duffy has revealed she was drugged and raped after being held captive by an attacker.
The 35-year-old Welsh star posted on her verified Instagram account that her "recovery took time".
The performer, who had a UK number one single Mercy in 2008, wrote to her 33,000 followers: "The simple truth is, and please believe me I am OK and safe now."
"I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days," she wrote.
Duffy, whose debut album Rockferry went seven times platinum since it went to number one in six countries, won three Brit Awards and a Grammy following her breakthrough.
"You can only just imagine the quantity of times I considered writing this," she wrote on Instagram.
"Well, not entirely sure why now could be the proper time, and what it is that feels exciting and liberating for me personally to talk.
"I cannot explain it. A lot of you wonder what happened certainly to me, where did I disappear to and just why. A journalist contacted me, he found ways to reach me and I told him everything earlier this summer. He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak.
"The truth is, and please believe 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 is no light way to say this. But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel sunlight in my heart again, sunlight does now shine."
'Sadness in my eyes'
Duffy - whose real name is Aimee Anne Duffy - visited number 1 in 12 countries with Mercy, which was the UK's third-best-selling single of 2008 with sales greater than 500,000 copies.
The singer, from Nefyn in Gwynedd, then enjoyed success with her first album Rockferry since it became the UK's biggest selling album of 2008.
"You wonder why I did so not decide to use my voice to express my pain? I did so not want showing the world the sadness in my eyes," she added.
"I asked myself, how do i sing from the heart if it's broken?
"And slowly it unbroke. In the next weeks I am posting a spoken interview.
"When you have any questions I'd like to answer them, in the spoken interview, if I can. I have a sacred love and sincere appreciation for your kindness through the years. You have already been friends. I would like to many thanks for that. x Duffy.
"Please respect that is a gentle move for me personally to create, for myself, and I do not want any intrusion to my children. Please support me to create this a positive experience."
The BBC attempted to contact Duffy to verify her account.
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