As modern courtship continues to migrate online, the possibility of being catfished is a constant concern. Still, countless people forge lasting connections on the internet despite the vast distances between them — and for almost a decade, Kirat Assi believed she had done just that with a man named Bobby, whom she met on Facebook. Beginning in 2010, the pair — who knew of each other through their shared Sikh community in London — developed a friendship that turned into a serious romantic relationship. But whenever Assi attempted to connect with Bobby in person, something would get in the way. As the years went on, his emotional hold on her tightened.
“People think coercive control can’t happen online, but it can,” Assi tells Tudum about what happened to her. “It slowly breaks you down to the point where you’re not yourself anymore.”
Sweet Bobby, a popular Tortoise podcast about Assi’s eight-year ordeal — from that first Facebook contact to the shocking conclusion of a relationship built on a massive lie — was released in 2021.
“I thought it would just blow over, that it wasn’t going to be anything big,” Assi says. “Little did I know that it would take over. It just blew up out of proportion.”
The podcast attracted thousands of listeners who could barely believe every twist and turn. Now the story will be brought to life on Netflix in Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare, a riveting documentary film from The Tinder Swindler producer Raw. “I think I’m as careful as I can be online, but it is a scary world out there,” Assi says. The doc lets viewers see and hear exactly what Assi went through, with photos, screenshots, and exclusive interviews with Assi herself as well as those who watched the doomed relationship unfold in real time.
Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare is directed by Lyttanya Shannon (Subnormal: A British Scandal), executive produced by Rebecca North (American Nightmare), and produced by Kiran Sira (Murder, Mystery and My Family).
