A former contestant on The Voice has been accused of rape allegations by a former friend. On Dec. 4, Timothy Heller accused the popular show star Melanie Martinez, who appeared on season three of The Voice. A day later, Martinez denied these claims, tweeting that she was “horrified and saddened” by the accusation.

The incident began Nov. 16, when Heller tweeted that she had a “story of abuse” that she wanted to share but was afraid of doing in risk of ruining the person’s life. She had been a former friend and fellow singer with Martinez, and she stated that she “still loved” Martinez. According to Heller, she had waited to come forward because she was “still in denial for a long time”.

“I was surprised that Heller wouldn’t have said it any sooner than when it happened, and how the story had to be unfolded instead of her keeping it private,” Hollis Vaughan, a ninth grader, said. “…I didn’t think Martinez would ever do something like that. My point of view on her’s changed.”

According to Heller, about 20 minutes after posting the tweet, Martinez reached out to her by attempting to call her. Heller began to cry when she saw the call, rejecting the call and blocking Martinez’s number.

“I’m not sure she should’ve blocked Martinez’s number,” Vaughan said, “I feel like there could have been a more mature way to handle it.”

On Dec. 4, Heller posted a lengthy tweet about something that had happened when she and Martinez had a sleepover. She described their relationship before the sleepover as “a close friendship for a period of time.” During the sleepover, Heller described Martinez’s actions as inappropriate, and mentioned that she had continuously said no to her. After the incident, Heller was continuously in shock and denial that her friend had raped her.

Because of the accused story of rape, many of Martinez’s fans have been destroying her merch. When Heller first told her story, thousands of videos appeared on Twitter and other social media sites of the fans destroying her shirts, records, and albums.

“I understand why they might be mad, but they don’t know for sure with full on facts, Martinez has talked about it, but I still don’t think it’s worth burning clothes that you could give away to people who need them” Vaughan said.

Martinez has denied the claims of sexual assault, and will continue to stand by her statements. There are fans on both sides of the story, accusing Heller of not “giving proof” and avoiding the details of the night in question. Many more mention Heller as “brave” and “inspiring” for coming out with her story.