Many Netflix subscribers and true crime fans alike have already seen the trailer for the upcoming Netflix documentary Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare. While audiences far and wide wait for the shocking project to land on the streamer on Oct. 16, some skeptics have questions about the story behind the upcoming film. The trailer, which outlines a terrifying decade-long campaign of catfishing, deception and digital lies, offers a compelling preview into the unbelievable story that the full movie presents.
Despite the bonkers premise, it may shock you to learn that Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare is a 100 percent true story, which unfolded from 2009 through 2018. The tale was previously adapted into a podcast, which served as the outline for the forthcoming doc. Since we already have the key details established by the real-life story of Sweet Bobby, now seems like as good a time as any to run through the basics of the tale, and detail some of what you can expect to see in the Netflix original. While we won’t be publishing outright spoilers ahead, the following write-up will contain information about real-life events. If you’d like to go into Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare completely blind for the most surprising watch, be sure to bookmark this page and return later.
Who Is Sweet Bobby? Meet Kirat Assi’s Catfish
As the trailer outlines, the story of Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare will center on a young Sikh woman named Kirat Assi. While scrolling Facebook in 2009, Assi came across a man named Bobby, who was part of a shared Sikh community in her hometown of London. As the two began chatting, they built a fast friendship that slowly morphed into a romantic fling, all without ever meeting in person. Kirat was aware of the existence of catfishes in digital spaces and performed her due diligence by verifying Bobby’s identity through multiple sources, mutual friends and community outlets. Still, the couple never met, as Bobby always had some kind of convenient excuse to avoid public outings.
As the years carried on, the bond between the two strengthened until they became basically inseparable. As Assi explains in the trailer, their relationship reached a point where they would remain on the phone overnight while they slept nearly every evening. So, you can imagine her shock when she learned that Bobby was not a real person, and that the person she had been chatting with was actually a complete stranger, utilizing someone else’s identity for their sick and twisted gain. The tale truly lives up to the title of a catfish nightmare, as multiple accounts began disappearing right as “Bobby” realized he had been caught.
If You Can’t Get Enough of the Show, There’s a Podcast Too
If you’re itching to learn more about the Sweet Bobby story after watching the Netflix doc, you can still check out the podcast which premiered about the subject back in 2021. The audio experience, created by Tortoise Media, originally ran for 6 episodes each spanning 30-45 minutes in. Since the story gained such massive viral notoriety, the gang has revisited the matter with a 90-minute retrospective leading up to the release of the Netflix adaptation. Even if you do spoil the full story by binge-listening your way through the entire Sweet Bobby podcast, there will still be plenty to enjoy from the Netflix version.
As seen in the documentary trailer, the Netflix outing will feature the real-life Kirat Assi as she walks through her personal experience in a confessional. Assi will also play herself in dramatic reenactments, which will surely draw the viewer in for an emotional retelling. Additionally, the trailer reveals an interview with the man whose likeness was used for “Bobby’s” account, as he explains “I’ve never spoken to her in my life.” The doc, which is presented by the team behind such classic true crime stories as The Tinder Swindler and American Nightmare, will surely offer many unexpected twists and turns, even for those who are tapped all the way in to the Sweet Bobby story.
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