Singer Duffy has reportedly penned an open letter to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, criticizing the platform for its “irresponsible” decision to stream the controversial film 365 Days.
Duffy — who recently opened up about her own experience being drugged, kidnapped and raped — says the film, which she claims Netflix bills as an “erotic drama,” “glamorizes the brutal reality of sex trafficking, kidnapping and rape.”
The plot of the Polish film, which is regularly in Netflix’s top 10 list of most viewed content on its plaform in the U.S. and has a 0 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, centers on a man who holds a woman captive, giving her one year to fall in love with him.
“This should not be anyone’s idea of entertainment, nor should it be described as such, or be commercialized in this manner,” she writes in the letter, obtained by numerous media outlets, including The Sun, which printed a photograph of the document.
The “Mercy” singer said that while she did not intend to call out Netflix, she felt the need to, given her experiences.
“I just can’t imagine how Netflix could overlook how careless, insensitive and dangerous this is,” she writes. “It has even prompted some young women, recently, to jovially ask Michele Morrone, the lead actor in the film, to kidnap them.”
She goes on to suggest the streamer is being hypocritical, writing, “We all know Netflix would not host material glamorizing pedophilia, racism, homophobia, genocide, or any other crimes against humanity. The world would rightly rise up and scream.”
She urges Hastings to commit Netflix’s resources and filmmakers to producing and streaming “content that portrays the truth of the harsh and desperate reality of what 365 Days has sought to turn into a work of casual entertainment.”
The singer concludes the letter by urging those who watched the movie, which she says “eroticises kidnapping and distorts sexual violence and trafficking as a ‘sexy’ movie,” to “reflect on the reality of kidnapping and trafficking, of force and sexual exploitation.”
She also directs readers to resources to learn more about and help victims of sexual trafficking.
“365 Days has brought great hurt to those who have endured the pains and horrors that this film glamorizes, for entertainment and for dollars,” she concluded. “What I and others who know these injustices need is the exact opposite — a narrative of truth, hope and to be given a voice.”
Reps for Duffy and Netflix have not yet responded to The Hollywood Reporter‘s requests for comment.
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