Alanis Morissette says she will not be supporting Jagged, the HBO documentary that documents her rise to fame and the release of her seminal album “Jagged Little Pill.”
In the statement provided to THR, Morissette says, “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.”
She says she will not be attending any events surrounding the release of the feature, which made its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 13. “Not unlike many ‘stories’ and unauthorized biographies out there over the years, this one includes implications and facts that are simply not true,” says the musician. In the statement, Morissette does not disclose which elements of the movie are untrue.
In the doc, the singer-songwriter discusses her personal experiences with sexual assault and statutory rape. During a sit-down interview seen in the film, Morissette says, “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 does not identify her alleged assaulters.
Reports about Morissette’s displeasure began ahead of Jagged‘s festival premiere, with the Washington Post first reporting that the singer would not be attending the TIFF premiere.
Jagged is a part of the Bill Simmons-produced Music Box series, an anthology of music-focused documentary features, which also includes TIFF title Listening to Kenny G and the already debuted Woodstock 99: Peace, Love, and Rage. (Jagged does not yet have a premiere date on HBO.) THR has reached out the HBO for comment.
See the full statement from Morissette below:
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.
This story was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
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