I've made it clear that I don't play around when it comes to any form of sexual misconduct. So, let's talk about a new allegation that has surfaced against singer Melanie Martinez made by her old friend and fellow singer, Timothy Heller.
For those who do not know who Melanie Martinez is, she is a singer-songwriter who is most noted with being a contestant on the third season of The Voice and was eliminated week five. After being eliminated from the show, she then grew a cult following through the social media website, Tumblr, most notably with the DDLG community, which is a subsect of BDSM, due to her alter ego named Crybaby. Melanie's songs have been featured in both movies and television shows such as American Horror Story: Freak Show andNerve.
Now, I have searched the Internet to find out a little bit more about the accuser, Timothy Heller, but there is very little information about her. According to CNN, Heller is a former member of the band Dresses and I am going to assume that she left because she went on a pursue a solo career. According to the photos of her #MeToo story which she posted on Twitter, she was taken in by Martinez, whom she says was one of her closest friends. Another thing that I have also searched the Internet for is the release date of Heller's new album that is said to be released this week. I did not find any information about this upcoming album, but what I did find was that she has released her debut single, 'Sleep', two months ago in October.
Let's dive into the allegations. In Heller's story, she writes that her life began to revolve around Martinez's life before going onto writing, "The power she had over me, grew into me having a hard time saying "no" to her. I would do almost anything for her." After this, Heller begins to write about the sleepover at which Martinez rapes her. Heller claims that she tried to be open with her former close friend about her sexual preferences even though it made her feel uncomfortable. Timothy then describes how Martinez continuously asked her if they could engage in intercourse together, regardless of the fact that Timothy had a boyfriend at the time. So, of course, Timothy told Melanie "no."
Instead of accepting the answer and moving on, Timothy writes that Melanie, kept "asking me why I didn't want to, that it would be fun." Heller writes that this went on for the entire night. Apparently, the next night the same thing happens, only this time, Martinez convinces Heller to smoke marijuana with her. Heller writes that she soon tried to go to sleep, Martinez touched her arm which had made her uncomfortable but told Martinez that it tickled. Later in the night, Martinez began to ask questions about what she can do to Heller such as touching her breasts and arm before starting to talk about Heller's body. Eventually, without consent, Martinez performed oral sex on Heller and penetrated her with a sex toy.
I first saw this story as I was going through my feed on Facebook because Buzzfeed posted it. After reading the story and becoming extremely sad because I personally am a fan of Melanie Martinez, I decided to check the comments section. Some of the comments that I read were 50 Shades of horrible. Some people are saying that Timothy Heller is only sharing her story for attention because she is releasing a new album shortly. Others are defending Martinez by commenting, "innocent until proven guilty." And, some are questioning Heller why would she still be in the same bed as Martinez for a second night.
I just want to advocate for Heller as someone who is also a victim of sexual assault but also to give my own personal opinions on these disgusting comments. A victim of sexual assault will only come forward and tell their story when they feel the time is right. Just because Heller has an album coming out shortly does not mean her being so brave to share her own #MeToo story is to give her support and have people buy her new album. The album has nothing to do with her story, too. Heller's body was violated by another human being without her consent.
Secondly, doubting the story of a woman that is so boldly coming to share her story against a singer that has a cult following is extremely difficult. Trying to demean her and her story is wrong. Be an ally to someone that claims they are a survivor of sexual assault because if law enforcement does get involved they will find out if these claims are true. But for a survivor to be confident in that when they feel so alone, they need a supportive fan base.
And, let me remind you that Heller considered Melanie her friend.
There are some things that my friends may say and do that I do not agree with or do make me uncomfortable, but I can forgive them and dismiss their comments within 12 to 24 hours. Heller did the same. She did not expect for Martinez to continue the conversation for the second night. But what's worse is that Heller was under the influence of marijuana, she had work in the morning, and she was tired. Regardless, of her feelings at the current time, Martinez had and will never have any right to touch her. I am going to conclude this article by saying that a woman can sexually harass/assault a man or another woman. It does not matter what gender, age, or sexual orientation you are if you touch another person without their permission it is wrong.