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The Grammy winner appeared in a social media video this week for the first time since she claimed in 2020 she had been drugged, raped, and kidnapped nearly a decade prior, resulting in her retreating from the public eye.
Singer Duffy — best known for her 2008 hit “Mercy” — has made a surprising appearance in a social media video, marking what seems to be the first time the public has seen the Grammy winner in over 10 years.
Earlier this week, EDM group e.motion shared a video on both TikTok and Instagram, in which Duffy, 40, makes a brief appearance, lip-syncing to the band’s UK garage remix of her song, “Mercy.”
“You got me beggin’ you for mercy,” she mouthed her lyrics to the camera, before throwing in a wink.
The clip cut to a visual — which featured footage from Duffy’s 2008 music video for the song — teasing the electronic remix.
“Some of you asked if Duffy was really doing a UK Garage remix with us…,” e.motion captioned the video.
The group has been teasing the “Mercy UK Garage Mix” for nearly two weeks on their social media, with Duffy commenting on one of the Instagram tease videos last week, writing, “Lets get it finished 👀.”
The audio clip of the remix has already been used in over 200 videos on TikTok.
Duffy’s brief appearance in the social media videos appears to be the first time fans have seen the Welsh artist since she stepped away from the spotlight in 2011 after an alleged horrifying abduction plot, in which she claimed she was drugged and raped.
Duffy did not disclose her alleged kidnapping until 2020. In a since-deleted post in February 2020, she explained in detail why she retreated from the limelight in recent years.
“The truth is, and please trust me I am OK and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days,” she said at the time. “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.”
She said she would eventually be doing a “spoken interview,” asking fans to respect her privacy until then and “please support me to make this a positive experience.”
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Duffy Shares Detailed Account of Being Drugged, Taken Abroad and Raped
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The following April, Duffy posted a lengthy blog post, in which she detailed what allegedly happened to her, the devastating aftermath, and shared why she decided to speak out.
Noting that there was a global pandemic at the time, Duffy wrote she did not think “there is ever a right time” to share stories like this. She only hoped her truth could offer “some comfort that one can come out of darkness” and to help others who “have suffered the same.”
“It was my birthday, I was drugged at a restaurant, I was drugged then for four weeks and travelled to a foreign country,” she wrote. “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. I remember the pain and trying to stay conscious in the room after it happened.”
“I was stuck with him for another day, he didn’t look at me, I was to walk behind him, I was somewhat conscious and withdrawn,” she continued. “I could have been disposed of by him. I contemplated running away to the neighbouring city or town, as he slept, but had no cash and I was afraid he would call the police on me, for running away, and maybe they would track me down as a missing person.”
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Duffy Releases First Music Since Abduction Reveal, Feels ‘Freer’ After Speaking Out
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She claimed the man continued to drug her in her own home. “I do not know if he raped me there during that time,” she added, before saying she escaped by “fleeing in the days following that.”
Duffy went on to share that she reported the alleged kidnapping and assault to the police, and sought treatment with a psychologist.
She said she had been “on the run” over the past decade, explaining how she moved “five times in the immediate three years after, never feeling safe from the rapist.” She finally found peace in “the 5th house” — which she titled her blog post — where she found “the stability to recover.”
“I felt he could not find me in the 5th house, I felt safe. I feel safe now,” Duffy added.
She concluded the post saying she can now leave the horrors of the past 10 years behind her, “where the past belongs.” She added, “Hopefully no more ‘What happened to Duffy questions’ now you know … and I am free.”
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Duffy released her first song in over a decade in March 2020, titled, “Something Beautiful.” A few months later, the following June, she dropped the ballad, “River in the Sky,” which she posted about on Instagram at the time.
It remains the only post on her profile.
The National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline — 800.656.HOPE (4673) — provides free, 24/7 support for those in need.
