Alanis Morissette disowns HBO documentary 'Jagged' detailing her rape at 15
Canadian singer Alanis Morissette claimed in a new HBO documentary 'Jagged' that she was raped numerous times at the age of 15. However, it was not clear if Morissette even wanted the story to come out. The singer, on Tuesday, September 14 skipped the world premiere of 'Jagged' claiming that "this is not the story I agreed to tell". Ahead of its first public screening at the Toronto International Film Festival, the 47-year-old 'refused' to endorse the Alison Klayman-directed documentary based on her life. The documentary is titled in reference to her hit 1995 album 'Jagged Little Pill'.
"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," Morissette said in a statement. However, the singer did not elaborate on the elements of the film she was unhappy with.
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The documentary, which is set to air on November 19 on HBO, also showcases Morissette's references to an eating disorder including accounts of being a statutory rape victim at age 15. "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", " Morissette says in the film. Representatives for Klayman didn't immediately return requests for comment on Morissette's allegations.
Klayman earlier called Morissette 'brave' in an interview for putting her story out. "It´s a really hard thing, I think, to see a movie made about yourself. I think she´s incredibly brave and the reaction when she saw it was that it was a really - she could feel all the work, all the nuance that went into it. And again, she gave so much of her time and so much of her effort into making this and I think that the movie really speaks for itself," he said.
Alanis Morissette pointed out two reasons she's not supporting the documentary. "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," she said. "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," she added.