Moby: Warts-and-all documentary explores addiction and depression issues

Self-directed film does not mention the artist's claims of a relationship with actor Natalie Portman, and the issues that emerged

(Travis Schneider/Universal Music/PA)

Moby says he hopes a candid new documentary featuring his struggles with addiction and depression will help counter any “misrepresentation” of who he really is.

The film, Moby Doc, features moments of brutal honesty, including discussion of his father’s suicide and his own problems with alcohol and the darker aspects of fame.

At one point in the film, he even details how he slept through his mother’s funeral because he was “in bed, drunk, passed out”.

“I’ve appreciated other public figures who’ve attempted to be honest, or who’ve been willing to be honest,” the artist and animal rights activist, 55, told the PA news agency.

“Not even public figures, but just humans, friends of mine, or people I meet at AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings, who are actually willing to be vulnerable, willing to be honest, and willing to openly discuss the things that so many people are either ashamed of, or work so hard to hide.

“We live in a culture where there’s so much misrepresentation, you know, misrepresentation of who we are.

“Oftentimes, the only time you find out that someone’s struggling is after they’ve tried to kill themselves, or when they’ve killed themselves. The list is just endless, of people who you thought were living great lives, until all of a sudden, publicly, you realise they’re despondent.”

The documentary comes alongside the announcement of 'Reprise', an orchestral album that rearranges a selection of his hits.

One thing not mentioned in the film is the controversy around his relationship with Natalie Portman.

Moby was criticised after stating in his 2019 memoir that he had dated the actress, a claim she denied.

Portman, now 39, told Harper’s Bazaar she recalled “a much older man being creepy with me”, adding: “He said I was 20; I definitely wasn’t. I was a teenager. I had just turned 18.”

Moby, who later apologised for behaving “inconsiderately and disrespectfully”, declined to discuss further details with PA.

“It got a lot of attention, but it was, just in terms of page count, an incredibly minor… banal part of the book. But the world we live in is that’s what people prioritised,” he said.

• If you are affected by issues raised in this article, call Samaritans on 116 123, or text 50808. Both are free, available 24/7 and staffed by trained professionals.