Sherri Papini Says Alleged Kidnapping Is More Complex Than Just Her Lies

Sherri Papini is shrugging off the lies she told in her alleged kidnapping ... she says she can't be the only person who has ever fibbed, and her case is deeper than most folks realize.

TMZ obtained a clip from the upcoming documentary "Sherri Papini: Caught In The Lie" ... and she asks the audience, "Haven't you ever lied? Have you ever lied in your history of existence? And then has that lie been blown up and broadcast around the world?"

Sherri went missing for three weeks back in 2016 ... resurfacing on the side of a road in California after claiming her captors let her go.

She claimed two Hispanic women kept her captive for weeks ... wearing masks to conceal their faces from her, chaining her to a wall and branding her with the word "Exodus."

In the new documentary Sherri is now accusing her ex-boyfriend James Reyes of allegedly abducting her and is claiming she lied because she was scared of Reyes and that her husband would find out she was having an emotional affair with her ex.

Reyes has denied kidnapping her and was never charged with a crime related to her disappearance.

Sherri was arrested in March 2022 ... and ultimately pled guilty to one count of making false statements and one count of mail fraud. She was sentenced to 18 months in prison, but was released after serving less than a year.

Papini publicly admitted the whole kidnapping was a hoax at her sentencing hearing ... but, it looks like she's walking that completely back now -- in the clip, she says, "It's so much more complex than pointing the finger and saying you're a liar and I wish more than anything I could have been more truthful."

ID produced the documentary and they interviewed a bunch of folks -- including some people who know Sherri, and others who cast doubt on her claims -- and the clip features a psychologist trying to make sense of Sherri's statements. Sherri also takes a lie detector test.