Breaking Idol

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SYNOPSIS

When Jacob Hoggard is accused of rape, blind devotion collides with truth. Breaking Idol exposes the price of power, the peril of fandom, and the courage it takes to speak out.

CREDITS

Writer/Director Tiffany Hsiung
Executive Producer Jamie Brown
Supervising Producer Sally Karam
Produced by Frantic Films for CBC’s The Passionate Eye

Based in part on Canadian True Crime’s series
The Trial of Hedley’s Jacob Hoggard

RELEASE

Wednesday, November 19, 2025
Running time: 43 minutes
Currently available in Canada

TRAILER

THE STORY BEHIND
BREAKING IDOL

November 2016 - Jessica Baker is sexually assaulted by Jacob Hoggard in a Toronto hotel room. She decides not to report it.

February 2018 - Amid the #MeToo movement, Baker sees another survivor come forward and decides to report her own assault to police. She also gives an interview to CBC news (Judy Trinh) with her identity obscured.

June 2022 - After a four-year wait to get to trial, Hoggard is found guilty of sexually assaulting Baker, known as J.B. The judge describes the assault as a “particularly degrading rape.”

October 2022 - Three months after the guilty verdict, Baker turns on Canadian True Crime podcast and discovers host Kristi Lee is covering her story and trial. Still under publication ban, she privately contacts Kristi, and a friendship forms as the series unfolds.

December 2022 - Canadian True Crime’s series The Trial of Hedley’s Jacob Hoggard, which examines rape myths and stereotypes in sexual assault trials, ranks among Apple’s Top 10 podcast episodes of 2023 in Canada. It is later optioned by Frantic Films.

December 2024 - Director and writer Tiffany Hsiung joins the film project, centering Jessica’s voice as the survivor, while also expanding its focus to include celebrity fandom, social media, and the music industry’s role in shaping public narratives. The documentary is filmed with an all-women crew and trauma-informed practices.

June 2025 - Following filming, Baker and Lee co-found survivor-led advocacy group BeyondTheVerdict.ca with BC advocate Kelly Favro (who also consulted on the documentary). They advocate for trauma-informed justice in the courtroom.

November 2025 - After seven years of anonymity, Baker publicly shares her identity for the first time in the documentary BREAKING IDOL.

PRESS BLURB

On November 19, 2025, J.B. shared her identity and her story for the first time in the documentary BREAKING IDOL, produced by Frantic Films and which premiered on CBC’s The Passionate Eye documentary series.

BREAKING IDOL urgently highlights one woman’s fight to reclaim her identity after nearly a decade of anonymity, flipping the ‘shame narrative’ from survivor to perpetrator in a system where over 80% of sexual assaults are never reported.

In the documentary, survivor Jessica Baker, known during the trial as J.B., steps out from behind her pseudonym, revealing not only the trauma she endured but the cost of speaking out: relentless harassment, re-traumatization in the courtroom, and years of her life on hold. Her decision to confront both her abuser and the culture that enabled him becomes a powerful testament to resilience and self-determination. Urgent and unwavering, BREAKING IDOL asks what happens when we finally see the human being behind the headlines and confront the cost of loving our idols more than the truth.

BREAKING IDOL was written and directed by Tiffany Hsiung and produced by Jamie Brown, Sally Karam and Stephanie Fast at Frantic Films. Cinematography is by Ann Tipper, with music by Tom Third and editing by Navin Harrilal, and was made with the support of Kristi Lee and the Canadian True Crime podcast. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager of Entertainment, Factual, & Sports; Jennifer Dettman is Executive Director, Unscripted Content; Sandra Kleinfeld is Senior Director, Documentary; and Michelle McCree is Executive in Charge of Production, The Passionate Eye and CBC Docs.