Celebrity3 min(s) read
Alanis Morissette reveals she was raped by multiple men when she was just 15
Alanis Morissette has claimed that she was the victim of multiple instances of statutory rape in a new documentary.
As reported by the Washington Post, the HBO film titled Jagged premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on Monday, 13 September, and saw the 'Ironic' singer recall having sexual relationships with adult men when she was only 15.
At the age of 15, Morissette had been pursuing a career in the music industry, before eventually being signed by MCA Canada in 1990.
The Canadian pop star, 47, said in the documentary: "It took me years in therapy to even admit there had been any kind of victimization on my part. I would always say I was consenting, and then I’d be reminded like ,'Hey, you were 15, you’re not consenting at 15.' Now I’m like, 'Oh yeah, they’re all pedophiles. It’s all statutory rape.'"
While Morissette did not identify the alleged perpetrators, she did share: "I did tell a few people and it kind of fell on deaf ears. It would usually be a stand-up, walk-out-of-the-room moment."
She added: "You know, a lot of people say 'why did that woman wait 30 years [to report rape]?' And I’m like, f*** off. They don’t wait 30 years. No one was listening or their livelihood was threatened or their family was threatened."
However, according to the Post, she refused to attend the premiere of the new documentary at the Toronto Film Festival earlier this week.
And on Tuesday, September 14, she shared a statement saying that her vision and that of the filmmaker were "painfully diverged".
Per the Guardian, Morissette said:
"I agreed to participate in a piece about the celebration of Jagged Little Pill’s 25th anniversary and was interviewed during a very vulnerable time (while in the midst of my third postpartum depression during lockdown).
"I was lulled into a false sense of security and their salacious agenda became apparent immediately upon my seeing the first cut of the film. This is when I knew our visions were in fact painfully diverged.
"This was not the story I agreed to tell. I sit here now experiencing the full impact of having trusted someone who did not warrant being trusted. I have chosen not to attend any event around this movie for two reasons: one is that I am on tour right now.
"The other is that, not unlike many 'stories' and unauthorized biographies out there over the years, this one includes implications and facts that are simply not true.
"While there is beauty and some elements of accuracy in this/my story to be sure – I ultimately won’t be supporting someone else’s reductive take on a story much too nuanced for them to ever grasp or tell."
Director Alison Klayman told the Post regarding Morissette's absence: "Of course I wish Alanis could be there. It was a privilege to make this film and I’m really proud of it. Hopefully, there will be other opportunities in the future for her to come to film events."