Melanie Martinez, former 'Voice' contestant, responds to rape al - CBS46 News

By Lisa Respers France CNN 

(CNN) -- A former contestant from "The Voice" is denying a rape accusation made by another female singer.

Melanie Martinez, who appeared on the third season of "The Voice" in 2012, posted a statement on Twitter Tuesday in which she denied an allegation from a female friend who accused her of sexual assault.

Martinez said in the statement that she was "horrified and saddened by the statements and story told tonight by Timothy Heller [her female friend]."

"What she and I shared was a close friendship for a period of time," the statement read. "We came into each other's lives as we were both starting our careers as artists, and we tried to help each other."

But, according to Heller, things took a dark turn.

The former member of the band Dresses shared a lengthy story on social media on Monday in which she said "accepting that my best friend raped me seems insane."

Heller wrote that Martinez pressured her to have sex, despite Heller's insistence she had a boyfriend, convinced her to smoke marijuana, then allegedly forcefully performed oral sex and used a sex toy on her. She did not specify when the alleged incident took place.

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

Heller said the recent wave of women coming forward with their stories of harassment and assault gave her encouragement that her account would be believed.

"Girls can rape girls," she wrote. "Best friends can rape best friends."

In her statement, Martinez said both she and Heller were in pain and "dealing with our individual demons" at the time.

"She never said no to what we chose to do together," Martinez said. "And although we parted ways, I am sending her love and light always."

CNN has reached out to both Heller and Martinez for additional comment.

A rep for Martinez pointed CNN to the singer's statement on Twitter and said there was no additional comment at this time.

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