In 2022, journalist Alexi Mostrous investigated the story of Kirat Assi, a 29-year-old London radio broadcaster who was romantically catfished for eight years in one of the most complex cases of false identity you’ll ever hear. Tortoise Media’s resulting true crime podcast Sweet Bobby saw millions tuning in. And now, Assi’s story will be re-examined on Netflix.
Announced by the streaming service on Wednesday, the case at the heart of Sweet Bobby will be explored in a new documentary. It’s being directed by Lyttanya Shannon (who directed BBC’s exceptional, Steve McQueen-produced documentary Subnormal: A British Scandal), and produced by Raw and Kiran Sira (Murder, Mystery and My Family), and executive produced by Rebecca North (Netflix’s American Nightmare).
Like the podcast, the documentary will trace how Assi met a man called “Bobby” on Facebook and formed a deep friendship and romantic relationship with him that would become controlling and manipulative. The whole time, Assi was being catfished — as Mashable’s Chance Townsend defines it, “the act of creating a fake profile on social media or dating platforms to deceive others, often using someone else’s pictures and information to create a false identity.”
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But who Bobby actually was would be a mind-boggling truth involving over 60 invented characters — and a deeply devastating revelation for Assi.
“It was a slow destruction of everything I had. Bobby targeted every part of my life – my career, my dreams, my hopes, my relationship with family, with friends, my studies,” Assi told the Guardian in 2022. “I could have met someone real, had a baby during that time. But the other impact has been on my mental and physical health.”
As CNN reported this year, “In the UK, while catfishing itself is not classified as a criminal offense, if the person using a fake profile engages in illegal activities, like financial gain or harassment, they can be punished by law.”
Netflix hasn’t announced a date for Sweet Bobby yet. Until then, here’s our picks of the best true crime documentaries on Netflix.
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