Categories: News

Curtis Lepore, Vine Star, Accused Of Raping Fellow Vine Star Jessi Smiles

Vine star, Curtis Lepore, pled not guilty to rape in court on Tuesday, Jan. 14 after being arrested in October for raping fellow Vine star Jessi Smiles (born Jessica Vasquez).

Vine Romance: How Curtis Lepore Met Jessi Smiles

Lepore, who boasts 3.4 million followers, met Smiles after stumbling upon her Vines and the two began trading Vines and flirting over various social medias. Lepore and Smiles engaged in a long distance relationship – Smiles is based in Miami and Lepore lives in Los Angeles. Finally, they decided to meet in the flesh in New York City on Aug. 7, 2013, and the event turned into a romantic meeting between Lepore, Smiles and thousands of their fans.

The relationship, they insist, was real and, while Smiles has admitted that both Lepore and herself have management, she insists that their romance began organically and was not a publicity stunt.

“When our management found out that we were going to meet, they told us we have to make this into an event. It wasn’t meant to be that big of a thing so I was nervous about it. I thought there would be a lot of people there to see us meet so I didn’t feel too comfortable about that. But it turned out amazing, it was fun,” Jessi said in an interview a few weeks after the fateful meeting.

The Alleged Rape

The relationship quickly fizzled, but the two reunited in late August when Smiles was visiting L.A. and suffered a concussion. Lepore reportedly reached out to Smiles and offered to help her while she recovered. He went to see Smiles and allegedly raped her after she had fallen asleep.

After the incident, Smiles took to Twitter to post a warning to her followers, cautioning them to “Be careful of who you trust.”

Lepore was arrested in October and then released on $100,000 bail.

Lepore And Smiles Address Fans

TMZ broke the news of the alleged rape on Jan. 16 following Lepore’s hearing, causing the Vine celebrities’ millions of fans to rush to social media to take sides. Lepore denies the allegations, and suggested that Smiles leaked the information about his arrest to TMZ, tweeting, “Wow. TMZ? It all makes sense now. Let the second publicity stunt begin!”

Lepore also addressed his fans on Vine, saying, “There are two sides to every story.”

“Things aren’t always what they seem. I am not allowed to talk about what’s going on right now. In the meantime, don’t rush to judge,” Lepore captioned the video.

Meanwhile, Smiles also took to Vine to thank her supporters Friday, Jan. 17.

She also took to Twitter, thanking fans for all their support and brushing off any negative comments people have been writing in the wake of the rape allegations going public.

Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Get Uinterview's FREE iPhone App For Daily News Updates here.

Get the FREE Uinterview iPad app here and watch our videos anywhere.

uInterview

Recent Posts

J.K. Rowling Accuses John Oliver Of Using ‘Women As A Punchline’ After He Supports Trans Athletes’ Rights

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has accused The Daily Show host John Oliver of trivializing…

40 mins ago

VIDEO: Hippo Mother Bibi Uses Son Fritz As Step Stool At Cincinnati Zoo

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-_lJypScsiU A hippo recently let his mom step on top of his back, acting as…

2 hours ago

VIDEO: Blind Football Fan Begs Real Madrid Star Jude Bellingham To Join Arsenal: ‘We’ll Look After You’

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YYoI039YXKE A blind young football fan who trains with England asked fellow international Jude Bellingham…

2 hours ago

CBS Accused Of Cutting Brock Bowers’ ‘Trump Dance’ After Raiders Touchdown

CBS has been under attack after the netwrok was accused of editing out Raiders tight…

3 hours ago

VIDEO: Madrid Police Rescue 50 Cats Found In Filthy Conditions

https://youtu.be/uqXFl2_P-6k Police in Madrid have rescued over 50 cats living in dire conditions, lacking food,…

5 hours ago

Henry Winkler Says He Blocked His Daughter From Starring On ‘The Bachelorette’ With Kim Kardashian ‘For Her Protection’

In addition to saving his daughter from the inherent emotional distress and trauma caused by…

5 hours ago