Warning: This article contains descriptions of sexual assault and may be distressing to some readers.
Encouraged by the #metoo movement, a woman named Timothy Heller gained the courage to take to Twitter to share her story of assault. The person she accused caused a furor.
Heller named her former best friend, YouTube pop star Melanie Martinez, as her abuser – claiming that in 2015, the now 22-year-old singer inflicted a prolonged, manipulative and horrific sexual assault against her.
Martinez, whose music videos have garnered tens of millions of views on YouTube, has a loyal army of supporters. Their response was swift. Many took Heller at her word.
#MelanieMartinezIsOverParty began trending on Twitter, as legions of formerly loyal fans began breaking their Melanie Martinez records in half, or destroying the candy-coloured merchandise that has made Martinez a trendsetter among teens and tweens.
But many others asked the same question of Heller - as her alleged attacker was also female and of smaller stature, presumably she wasn't in physical danger, so why didn't she just walk away?
Timothy's description of the alleged attack is harrowing. She claims Martinez, whom she loved and trusted, wore her down psychologically for days, begging to touch her arm, and then her breasts, bartering for each interaction, before assaulting her with a sex toy.
Timothy writes that Martinez performed, “oral sex on me and then I was penetrated with a sex toy without being asked. She knew I didn't want to, I made that clear". Heller added that she was, “completely not reciprocating.”
As soon as Heller's claims entered the news cycle, many responses to the accusation veered towards blaming Heller for not simply removing herself from the situation.
Top Comments
Absolutely appalling!
Separate to that, is anyone else finding it increasingly disturbing that people are being accused of these things on social media - named and shamed - when it hasn't even been reported to the police? There are correct protocols to go through ... social media isn't really one of them, is it?
I think that horse has bolted.... but the flip side is, with the statistics showing the vast majority of perpetrators escaping any accusation, conviction or punishment in the traditional criminal justice system, this is one way to expose and punish them.
Yes the criminal justice system is incredibly flawed, I've said that many times myself, but what about the small percentage of people that are falsely accused? Some people do become disgruntled, people these days seem intent on "getting back" at others for any small slight ... revenge porn anyone? People CAN and DO lie to ruin another person. If anything, I think people lying and getting revenge seems to be more prevalent these days ... I think we should all be worried if we allow public "stonings" via social media as an acceptable form of "justice".
I was at a bar with a gf. I bent over to get something out of my bag and in the fastest moment someone put their hand up my dress, pushed aside my underwear and entered me with their finger. I stood bolt upright and they walked off, turned around and winked... It was a woman.
I was distraught, I told my gf and she laughed... LAUGHED and said "geez relax, you are SO straight!" I said "would you be laughing if it were a man who just did that?" She stopped immediately...
It was years ago and still churns my stomach that this happened to me but even worse was that I was laughed at
That is absolutely appalling! I'm so sorry that happened to you :(