CONTENT WARNING: This article includes explicit descriptions of sexual assault and may be distressing for individuals with personal experience of sexual violence or those connected to such experiences.
For a long time, the individuals accusing former Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard of sexual assault remained anonymous. However, one of them has now come forward in a recent documentary.
Previously known as J.B. or the “Ottawa woman,” Jessica Baker has disclosed her identity as the survivor of a 2016 assault by Hoggard in a hotel room in Toronto.
In June 2022, Hoggard was convicted of sexually assaulting Baker and causing bodily harm. Subsequently, he was sentenced to five years in prison. He is currently serving this sentence following an unsuccessful appeal.
Although a publication ban shielded her identity throughout and after the trial, Baker made the decision to lift it. In a new documentary titled Breaking Idol, Baker states that she is speaking out to reclaim her narrative.
“Now, I just want people to acknowledge that I’m a real person with feelings,” expressed Baker in the documentary.
Hoggard gained fame as a contestant on Canadian Idol in 2004 before his band, Hedley, gained popularity nationwide and captivated teenage audiences. Following allegations of misconduct against Hoggard during the #MeToo movement in 2018, the group was dropped by their management team, and many radio stations ceased playing their music.
In 2022, Hoggard faced trial for accusations of sexual assault involving two women — Baker and an unnamed teenager. He was convicted solely for the assault against Baker. Additionally, Hoggard faced another sexual assault charge from an incident in Kirkland Lake, Ont., in June 2016, for which he was acquitted in October 2024.
He pleaded not guilty in each instance.
During the court proceedings, Baker testified that Hoggard raped her as she sobbed and protested. At a sentencing hearing in 2022, she stated that the assault had permanently altered her life.
“A part of me died that day that I will never get back,” she recalled at the time.
“My life as I knew it was stolen from me and shattered beyond recognition. The assault took away my worth, my privacy, my body, my confidence and my voice.”
In the documentary, Baker describes the trial itself as equally traumatic.
“It’s the exact same feeling, amplified in front of a room full of strangers