A post shared by Melanie Martinez (@littlebodybigheart) on Feb 14, 2017 at 3:34pm PST

Indie pop singer Melanie Martinez, 22, is denying sexual assault and rape allegations from her former friend and fellow musician, Timothy Heller.

Heller details the sexual assault in a lengthy Twitter post which has gone viral.

“I have kept this secret for years, convincing myself that it wasn’t a big deal and I wasn’t hurt by it. The thought of accepting that my best friend raped me seems insane,” Heller writes. “But I began to get responses I wasn’t expecting. Concerned ones. It’s hard to say someone you loved raped you. Someone you STILL love.”

Heller claims that one night Martinez repeatedly asked her to have sex.

“It went on for hours… I just wanted to sleep, I was exhausted,” Heller, who explained she had a boyfriend at the time and work in the morning, writes.

Heller says she kept refusing and without her consent, Martinez performed oral sex on her and penetrated her with a sex toy.

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

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 Martinez pic.twitter.com/4PQ5oNI2s9

— Timothy Heller (@timethyheller) December 4, 2017

Martinez denied the allegations in a social media post writing, “I am horrified and saddened by the statements and story told tonight by Timothy Heller. What she 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.”

The singer added, “She never said no to what we chose to do together. And although we parted ways, I am sending her love and light always.”

pic.twitter.com/9ZJwqc8Hap

— CRYBABY (@MelanieLBBH) December 5, 2017

Many people took issue with Martinez saying that Heller “never said no” during the incident.

Lol @ the women defending Melanie Martinez right now….. y’all would be the first to attack a man accused of sexual assault but now that it’s a woman you like, suddenly there’s a chance the victim is lying?

— Alexis Isabel (@lexi4prez) December 5, 2017

“She never said no to what we chose to do together” – Melanie Martinez.
A person can say “no” in many different ways
for example: pic.twitter.com/ecFx1v9M8Q

— mila kunis. (@6lacksbaddie) December 5, 2017

Melanie martinez’ excuse for raping her bestfriend is “she didn’t say no” and that’s all the rapists always say pic.twitter.com/SxIZey6Omq

— SOUDE (@ErebusMsr) December 5, 2017

A lot of text, but here’s my response to the Melanie Martinez story and my support for my friend, @timethyheller pic.twitter.com/tRSy0jaia4

— Joshua Goodson (@joshuanimal) December 5, 2017

Melanie this is a completely unacceptable response. Not saying no doesn’t mean yes. But for the record, she did and has stressed that numerous times. Shame on you for this disgusting reply that contributes to the victim culture we live in. @MelanieLBBH https://t.co/4nxCbxzofh

— Abigail Breslin (@yoabbaabba) December 5, 2017

Martinez was a contestant on NBC’s “The Voice” in 2012. She placed in the top six before releasing her debut album “Cry Baby” in 2015.