Alanis Morissette is distancing herself from “Jagged,” Alison Klayman’s forthcoming documentary of her, claiming it includes information that is “simply not true” and accusing the filmmakers, had a “salacious agenda.”
“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),” she said in a statement to Variety. “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.”
Last week the Washington Post reported that the film, which premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival this week, included Morissette making allegations of statutory rape against unnamed men, and also that the singer has refused to promote the film.
In an interview with Deadline published on Tuesday, Klayman largely dodged the controversy, saying, “Of course, it would have been great if she could be here with us, but I’m so grateful for all the time that she did put into making this film.
“It’s a really hard thing, I think, to see a movie made about yourself,” she continued. “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.”
Morissette is on her “Jagged Little Pill” 25th anniversary tour, which continues in North America through Oct. 6 and launches in Europe on Oct. 28.