Singer Melanie Martinez has posted additional comments in response to an accusation of sexual assault and rape by friend and fellow aspiring musician Timothy Heller.
Martinez, who appeared as a finalist on The Voice in 2012, adamantly denied the accusation on Dec. 5, writing, “I am horrified and saddened by the statements and story told tonight by Timothy Heller.” On Saturday (Dec. 9), she followed up by thanking fans for their support. Read below:
“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.”
In her original post on Twitter, Heller wrote about a difficult night in which she said she "repeatedly said no" to sexual advances from Martinez, which she claims the singer did not accept. "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," Heller wrote. "But I began to get responses I wasn't expecting. Concerned ones. It's hard to say someone you loved raped you. Someone you STILL love."
Heller went on to describe Martinez as her best friend, one who took her in when life was hard, but then allegedly asserted her "power and control" over Heller during her most difficult times.
The post went on to claim that Martinez continued to make advances on Heller, ignoring Heller's refusals as Martinez allegedly performed oral sex on her and used a sex toy on her without consent. "The bottom line that I need to always remind myself is that: I said no," she wrote. "For TWO NIGHTS STRAIGHT. It doesn't matter that I didn't resist during the action. I had been broken down. She knew I didn't want to, I made that clear."
In her first response, Martinez wrote that the two shared a “close friendship” at the beginning of both their careers. “We both had pain in dealing with our individual demons and the new paths we were forging, but I truly felt we were trying to lift each other up,” Martinez wrote.
