Who is Timothy Heller? Allegations against Melanie Martinez explored as singer's former friend issues new video statement 

Timothy Heller, a former friend of Melanie Martinez posted a video on TikTok on July 19, addressing her past SA allegations against the popular Indie artist. Heller, who was a part of the musical duo Dresses, accused Melanie of s*xually assaulting her in December 2017.

Heller began her career in the music industry in 2013, and was the opening act at some of Melanie’s shows during the latter’s Dollhouse Tour. Timothy Heller and her Dresses partner Jared Ryan Maldonado parted ways in 2016, and the artist went on to build her solo career.

In October 2017, Heller released Sleep, her debut single and the official music video came out the following year. She then released her second single See Ya! in August 2018, and Not Even For You, her third and final single was released in October 2019.

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of assault. Readers' discretion is advised.

Timothy Heller publicly accused Melanie Martinez, whose pronouns are she/they, of s*xual assault via an X post in December 2017. She claimed that the Cry Baby singer allegedly forced herself onto her despite Heller saying "no." Melanie responded to Heller’s accusation on X shortly after and called her claims false. They stated at the time:

"She never said no to what we chose to do together."

Nearly seven years after the controversy, Timothy Heller took to TikTok and shared a statement where she doubled down on her previous claims. She detailed the hate she received online after publicly speaking out about the alleged assault, and urged viewers to believe her story. In her July 19, 2024 statement, Timothy Heller said:

"During the #MeToo movement, I chose to speak out against a former friend who had SA-ed me. I was young, naive, and could never imagine how this would end up affecting my life."

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Timothy Heller's past allegations against Melanie Martinez and recent statement explored

According to Timothy Heller’s 2017 accusations, Melanie Martinez took her in, which caused her to feel she owed her life to the singer. She described Melaine Martinez as her “best friend,” claiming that she still loved them.

Speaking about the night of the alleged assault, Timothy Heller claimed:

"I never said yes. I said no, repeatedly. But she used her power over me and broke me down. Just so there is no confusion, I was m*lested by my best friend."

She later added:

"The bottom line that I need to always remind myself is that: I said no…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. I didn't scream at her, I didn't force her off of me. 1, because I loved her. 2, because I just wanted it to all be over."

Addressing Heller’s accusations, Melanie Martinez responded by saying she was "horrified and saddened" by the statement. The singer, who rose to fame after participating in The Voice season 3, continued:

"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 would never be intimate with someone without their absolute consent."

Referring to Melanie Martinez's response to the accusations in 2017, Heller said in her 2024 statement:

"She clearly didn’t understand how consent works and she admitted that something took place between us."

Heller proceeded to address an interview with a media outlet, where she was asked to provide specific details about the alleged incident, including when it took place. Timothy Heller then shed light on how Melanie Martinez's fans analyzed the artists’ social media posts and speculated that the two of them were in different states on the day of the alleged assault.

"It’d been around two years prior so I didn’t remember the exact date, what I did remember was a picture I took the next day. I went back in my camera roll, found the picture and told them the day of the incident was the day before. Unfortunately, I was wrong. The picture in my camera roll appeared multiple times. I can’t explain why. When the interview came out, her fans went back on her posts to that day to find that we were in different states," she said.

Heller stated that the barrage of negative remarks, criticism, and hate she received following the controversy was overwhelming for her.

Timothy Heller detailed how the public exposure of the incident affected her life, eventually discouraging her from pursuing her music career. Claiming she is still dealing with the aftereffects of the controversy, Heller asserted she did not do anything wrong and that she spoke the truth.

"If you’re familiar with my story you may have also heard that I admitted to lying and I can assure you that never happened. There were photoshopped images spread around of a confession that never happened because I have nothing to confess. I never lied," she said.

Heller concluded her statement by adding:

"I was successfully gaslit into thinking I was a bad person who deserved this. I’m so so scared to speak out about this against, there’s a high possibility that I won’t receive any support from this, and people who hate me will target me again and I go back into hiding."

Melanie Martinez has not yet responded to Timothy Heller's recent statement.