Yahoo Finance 'Mercy' singer Duffy: I was drugged, raped and held captive
Pop star Duffy has revealed she was drugged, raped and held captive.
The 35-year-old Welsh singer - who shot to fame in 2007 after the release of hit singles Rockferry and Mercy - told fans she had kept away from the public eye following the trauma but is now ready to talk about it.
Duffy - real name Aimee Duffy - wrote on Instagram: “Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why? The truth is, and please trust me I am ok and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days.”
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Implying the event was some time in the past the singer went on: “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.”
The Grammy and Brit Award-winning star revealed she will be releasing a spoken interview about her traumatic experience in the coming weeks and asked for privacy for her family.
US rapper Chika paid tribute to the Welsh singer, revealing Duffy paid for her first music studio sessions and acted as her “fairy godmother”.
The Sabotage rapper tweeted: “No one really knows this, but Duffy was the first artist to invest in me. She literally paid for my first time in the studio. She found me on Instagram while I was in a low place, and immediately became my fairy godmother.”
No one really knows this, but Duffy was the first artist to invest in me. She literally paid for my first time in the studio. She found me on Instagram while I was in a low place, and immediately became my fairy godmother. https://t.co/Po1WqUJIpZ
— CHIKA (@oranicuhh) February 26, 2020
Duffy first found fame aged 20 on talent show Wawffactor, the Welsh version of The X Factor. After being signed by A&M records she shot to fame in 2007 with her debut album Rockferry, finding success in Europe and the US, winning a Grammy award in 2009.
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She released a second album, Endlessly, in 2010 and also also launched an acting career. She made her film debut in Welsh-speaking film Patagonia in 2010 and appeared alongside Tom Hardy in Kray brothers film Legend in 2015.
Duffy dated Wales international rugby player Mike Phillips from 2009 to 2011 and would often appear in the stands to support him at matches during that time.
In 2012 she was reported to have fled a fire at her London penthouse flat in Kensington, with her dog and two cats - banging on her neighbours doors to warn them of the blaze.
Duffy was briefly put in a police safe house in 1998, aged just 14, when it was discovered her stepfather's ex-wife had plotted to pay a hitman to kill her stepfather, Philip Smith.
