FORMER 'THE VOICE' CONTESTANT MELANIE MARTINEZ ACCUSED OF RAPE

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Melanie Martinez, a musician and former contestant on "The Voice," was accused of rape by her former best friend Monday night.

Musician Timothy Heller released a statement on Twitter claiming the singer touched her without permission, performed nonconsensual oral sex on her, and penetrated her with a sex toy.

Melanie Martinez was accused of rape by her former best friend.(MAURICIO SANTANA/GETTY IMAGES)

Martinez, 22, said she was "horrified and saddened" by Heller's claims, and that she believed everything they'd done together was consensual.

In the lengthy thread, Heller says their friendship was an abusive, co-dependent one in which Martinez enjoyed exercising "power and control."

When I wrote this story about my assault, I initially wasn’t going to make the abuser. But I think it’s important for you all to know this is about Melanie.

Heller says the two were having a sleepover one night when Martinez began asking her about her sexual preferences and asking her for "hours" if they could have sex, insisting they could keep it a secret and it would be fun.

Heller, who had a boyfriend at the time, says she declined Martinez's offer but was forced to endure the same thing the next night.

After the two smoked marijuana at Martinez's insistence, Heller says she again asked if they could have sex.

"I said every form of no I could think of. As I lay praying to fall asleep, she began touching my arm. I allowed this to happen. Maybe she'd give up. This went on for maybe an hour. I got increasingly uncomfortable," she wrote.

Heller says Martinez then began pleading with her to touch other body parts, including her breasts, which Heller allowed, hoping it would make her stop.

That was when, according to Heller, Martinez raped her.

"Just so there is no confusion, I was molested by my best friend. I lay still, in shock, completely not reciprocating… She performed oral sex on me and then I was penetrated with a sex toy without being asked. That's what happened. The bottom line that I need to always remind myself is that: I said no," Heller wrote.

She added that her decision to come forward was inspired by the recent #MeToo movement and the flood of women revealing decades of sexual abuse.

"The only reason I do this now is because I'm hoping because of recent events, people will believe me. If you begin to doubt the abuse taking place in this story, I beg you to imagine her role in this being a man. Girls can rape girls," she wrote.

In Martinez's full statement released Tuesday, she praised Heller and claimed that "she never said no to what we chose to do.

"What (Timothy) and I shared was a close friendship for a period of time. We came into each other's lives as we were both starting our careers as artists, and we tried to help each other. 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. She never said no to what we chose to do together. And although we parted ways, I am sending her love and light always," she wrote on Twitter.

The Astoria-born, Long Island-bred singer rose to fame on the third season of the hit NBC singing competition "The Voice" in 2012.

She made it to week five under coach Adam Levine, and released her debut album "Cry Baby" in 2015.

The album reached No. 6 on Billboard charts, and her sophomore effort is rumored to have a January 2018 release date.