The Voice’s Melanie Martinez has spoken out for a second time to deny an accusation from her former best friend who said she was raped with a sex toy by the singer at a sleepover.
Martinez took to Twitter on Saturday to address the allegations again, saying she would ‘never be intimate with someone without their absolute consent’ and thanking her fans for their support.
The statement came days after her former friend and aspiring singer Timothy Heller alleged that Martinez had sexually assaulted her.
Melanie Martinez (left) took to Twitter on Saturday to address Timothy Heller’s (right) sexual assault allegations against her, saying she would ‘never be intimate with someone without their absolute consent’
The statement came days after her former friend and aspiring singer Timothy Heller alleged that Martinez had sexually assaulted her
Heller, who said she was inspired to tell her story amid the #metoo movement which has seen people speak out about their own stories of sexual harassment, responded to the statement and Martinez’s fans by saying: ‘This is why victims don’t speak up’
Hours later, Heller said that he did not regret speaking up and that ‘no one should be silenced’
Martinez wrote on Twitter: ‘I understand how hard it could be to see my side of the story, considering no one with a heart would want to invalidate anyone speaking up about this topic.
‘I want to thank my fans who took the time to research the timeline, analyze past Instagram photos, and question the story being told, which reveal her false statements.
‘I trusted so many people in my life who took advantage of that trust for their own personal gain.
‘Please know that my intentions with everything that I do in my life are always pure and I would never be intimate with someone without their absolute consent.’
After Heller’s allegations became public, Martinez’s fans took to Twitter using the hashtag #TimothyHellerIsOverParty, claiming they analyzed Heller’s timeline and past Instagram photos to counter her accusations.
Heller, who said she was inspired to tell her story amid the #metoo movement which has seen people speak out about their own stories of sexual harassment, responded to the statement and Martinez’s fans by saying: ‘This is why victims don’t speak up.’
Timothy Heller (pictured), herself an aspiring musician, claims although she allowed Martinez to touch her arm as they lay in bed together, it escalated into sexual assault
The Voice’s Melanie Martinez (pictured) has responded to an extraordinary accusation from her former best friend who said she was raped with a sex toy by the singer at a sleepover
Timothy Heller’s fourt-part accusation was published on Twitter at 8pm last night
A couple of hours after the accusations were leveled against her, Martinez released this statement
‘I wouldn’t wish this upon anyone,’ she added in a tweet over the weekend.
She later added: ‘Last night was rough but id like to say, I do NOT regret speaking up, and it doesnt mean that you shouldnt.
‘Just because this is hard, doesnt mean it wasnt the right thing to do. No one should be silenced, and I know that talking about this was an important thing to do. Ily guys.’
Martinez had risen to prominence on The Voice in 2012, singing Britney Spears’s ‘Toxic’ in the auditions and reaching the Top 6 before being eliminated in the live shows.
Heller, herself an aspiring musician, claims although she allowed Martinez to touch her arm as they lay in bed together, it escalated into sexual assault.
She gave a detailed account of what she believed to have happened when she posted on Twitter last week.
‘I am horrified and saddened by the statements and story told by Timothy Heller,’ The Voice singer Melanie Martinez said
A couple of hours after Heller’s accusations, Martinez responded, saying her best friend ‘did not say no’ to anything they chose to do together.
‘I am horrified and saddened by the statements and story told by Timothy Heller,’ The Voice singer said.
‘What she and I shared was a close friendship. We tried to help each other. We both had pain in dealing with our individual demons.
‘She never said no to what we chose to do together. And although we parted ways, I am sending her love and light always.’
The pair appear to have been friends since at least 2015, but Heller said their friendship came to an end because Martinez could not dedicate any time to her.
In the astonishing claims posted on social media, Heller wrote: ‘I have kept this secret for years, convincing myself that it wasn’t a big deal and I wasn’t hurt by it.
‘The thought of accepting that my best friend raped me seems insane.
The first part of Timothy Heller’s extraordinary claims her former best friend raped her
The second part of Heller’s claims, in which she details what she said happened the first night
The third part of Heller’s statement, in which she describes, in her words, what happened the second night she shared a bed with Martinez
The closing part of Heller’s statement, in which she says she was raped by her best friend
‘One night during a sleepover, she became increasingly interested in my sexual preferences.
‘As someone who had previously been through sexual abuse, sex is hard for me to talk about. I was obviously uncomfortable, but she was my best friend, so I tried to be open about it.’
The accuser then said Martinez repeatedly asked her to have sex over the course of several hours.
Heller claims she said ‘no’ over and over and eventually they fell asleep.
The following night, the same thing is said to have happened – this time Heller said it ended with her smoking cannabis and being groped and raped.
‘I never said yes,’ Heller said.
‘I said no, repeatedly. But she used her power over me, and broke me down. Just so there is no confusion, I was molested by my best friend… she performed oral sex on me and then I was penetrated with a sex toy without being asked.
‘That’s what happened.’
Heller ended her story with the hope that in light of ‘recent events, people will believe me,’ and the reminder that ‘girls can rape girls [and] best friends can rape best friends.’