Singer Duffy has now returned for the first time in four years after escaping the spotlight following a horrific ordeal where she was held captive for weeks.
The Grammy award winning star left the limelight after she was drugged and held against her will when she went out to celebrate her birthday. Real name Aimee Anne Duffy, she has remained quiet since the terrifying experience, which she first revealed back in 2020, until now, where she has shared an emotional video about the secret to happiness. This is her brave story.
Singer’s horrific experience
The celebrity revealed the terrifying ordeal she went through which saw her retreating from the fame she rightly earned.
The music star first posted details about the incident in 2020 on Instagram. Fans had wondered where Duffy was as after winning three Brit Awards and a Grammy in 2008. But she vanished after releasing her second album two years later.
On her website, 10 years after leaving the spotlight, she told fans what happened. She was out for her birthday when she was drugged and taken to a foreign country before being raped by the perpetrator.
She wrote: “It was my birthday, I was drugged at a restaurant, I was drugged then for four weeks and travelled to a foreign country.
“I can’t remember getting on the plane and came round in the back of a travelling vehicle. I was put into a hotel room and the perpetrator returned and raped me.”
The singer said: “I do not know how I had the strength to endure those days, I did feel the presence of something that helped me stay alive.”
Duffy said she ‘could have been disposed of by him’, and contemplated attempting to run away but was afraid he would call the police.
They flew back to the UK but she “knew my life was in immediate danger” because he made threats against her life.
She did later tell two officers. First when someone tried to blackmail her with the information and again when three men tried to break into her home. But the singer hasn’t said whether cops investigated the terrifying incident.
Duffy went into ‘hiding’
Duffy left the spotlight as she grieved, and admitted she was at risk of harming herself.
She said she wouldn’t see another person for ‘weeks at a time’, and her hair would get ‘knotted’ from not brushing it.
She explained: “In hiding, in not talking, I was allowing the rape to become a companion.”
“I thought the public disclosure of my story would utterly destroy my life, emotionally, while hiding my story was destroying my life so much more. I believe that not singing is killing me,” the star wrote.
“So, I just have to be strong and disclose it and face all my fears head on. I’ve come to realise I can’t erase myself, I live in my being, so I have to be completely honest and have faith in the outcome.”
She ended it with: “I can now leave this decade behind. Where the past belongs. Hopefully no more ‘what happened to Duffy questions’, now you know … and I am free.”
Where is Duffy now?
Duffy still remains out of the spotlight. The star moved five times until she felt same in her own home, as the perpetrator knew where she lived.
She has been quiet on social media, but has recently posted a positive message on her Instagram today.
She wrote: “A little something to motivate the heart. Hope you are doing well. Lots of love, Duffy”.
The video features different animations from various styles with music. A narration quotes Bianca Sparacino’s novel The Strength In Our Scars in the clip.
The words from the video say: “You’re going to realize it one day – that happiness was never about your job or your degree or being in a relationship.
“Happiness was never about following in the footsteps of all of those who came before you; it was never about being like the others.
“One day, you’re going to see it – that happiness was always about the discovery, the hope, the listening to your heart and following it wherever it chose to go.
“Happiness was always about being kinder to yourself; it was always about embracing the person you were becoming.
“One day, you will understand that happiness was always about learning how to live with yourself, that your happiness was never in the hands of others.
“One day you will realise that true happiness comes from within and no external factors can define it. It was always about you. It was always about you.”
Speak to someone
If you have been affected by this story, you can contact the Rape Crisis team. Call 0808 802 9999 for confidential emotional support, open 12pm-2.30pm, 7pm-9.30pm every day of the year. You can also contact Victim support on 08 08 16 89 111.
In the US, contact the RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, National Sexual Hotline. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 1 (800) 656-4673. You can also contact the Department of Defense Safe Helpline for Sexual Assault on 1 (877) 955-5247.
You can also text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
There is also the Samaritans, who you can call for free on 116 123. You can email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch in the UK. In the US, please visit Samaritans USA for more information.
You can also reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255). Or simply text 741741 to get in touch with the Crisis Text Line. Americans can now call or text 988 to reach out and speak to a counsellor as well.
The post Singer escaped fame after 'being drugged and held captive for 4 terrifying weeks' appeared first on Celebrity Tidbit.
