For over two years, singer Timothy Heller had been keeping a secret from the public eye regarding her former friend, notable singer-songwriter Melanie Martinez.
The two were close for a period of time, Heller stating that Martinez had “tried to help her in her early career.” The two had supported each other in friendship and their careers as musicians, until shortly after the incident that occurred against Heller on June 25, 2015.
On December 4th, Heller accused Martinez of raping her that night in June. She posted a statement via Twitter, explaining the details of what had occurred. Martinez repeatedly asked Heller for two consecutive nights to have sex. Heller denied Martinez each time, until Martinez eventually began to touch her without consent, perform oral sex, and violate her with a sex toy. This was all while Heller had consistently denied any advances made from Martinez.
Despite knowing what Martinez had done to her, Heller admitted, "We remained friends for a while, but it was strange. I think I was invalidating my own experience for so long because she's not a man. I sat with what happened in silence because I didn't want to be malicious."
Their "friendship" had eventually come to a close with Martinez allegedly saying to Heller, "I just can't have anything stopping me or distracting me from getting where I need to get. [...] I don't have time to have those distracting things in my life. The next couple of years are pretty crucial for me and I need to focus."
The two hadn’t associated with each other for almost a year until Heller had revealed her story to the public. Martinez put out a statement of her own shortly after via Twitter stating this below.
To say that she “never said no” is repulsive. Heller said no several times before Martinez forced her way onto her. Staying silent isn’t saying yes. Saying “maybe” isn’t saying yes. The only time any act such as this would be consensual is saying “yes”, plain and simple. And to have someone get away with this for over two years, repulsive, in that case, is an understatement.
Fans have opened up to their thoughts on the matter with disbelief and anger. Those who never were fans are reacting the same. Wherever Martinez’s career goes next is certainly a mystery. What I can say is her support from fans will decrease, and she will never be viewed or accepted the way she was before.
