Singer Duffy says she was raped, drugged and held captive for days

Welsh singer Duffy says she took a decade-long break from the spotlight after being “raped and drugged and held captive over some days.”

The Grammy-winner, who’s known for her hit song “Mercy,” disclosed that she’d survived the sexual assault in an Instagram post on Tuesday.

“Many of you wonder what happened to me, where did I disappear to and why,” wrote the singer.

She went on to say that a journalist contacted her over the summer, and she told him everything about the assault.

“He was kind and it felt so amazing to finally speak,” she wrote.

Despite the horrific incident, the singer said she’s alright and safe now. She said she didn’t express her pain through music because she didn’t want to show the world the sadness in her eyes.

“I asked myself, how can I sing from the heart if it is broken? And slowly it unbroke,” she wrote.

Duffy said she would be posting a spoken interview in the following weeks, answering questions from fans.

She ended the post without revealing more details of the assault and asked the public to respect her and her family.

“Please respect this is a gentle move for me to make, for myself, and I do not want any intrusion to my family,” she wrote. “Please support me to make this a positive experience.”

The singer’s post comes 10 years after the release of her last album, 2010’s “Endlessly.” The year before, she won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album for “Rockferry.”

View this post on Instagram

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 Feb 25, 2020 at 10:12am PST