Curtis Lepore, Vine Star, Accused of Sexually Assaulting Ex-Girlfriend Jessi Smiles

Curtis Lepore, a star on the website Vine, which enables users to share short, looping video clips, has been accused of raping his former girlfriend Jessi Smiles.

Smiles is also a star on the website.

Lepore was arrested in October and released on $100,000 bail, TMZ revealed on Thursday. Lepore was in court regarding the case earlier this week. He pled not guilty.

According to the lawsuit and sources, Smiles flew to see Lepore in Los Angeles in August 2013 but they ended up breaking up.

Smiles got a concussion several days later while shooting a Vine video, and Lepore called to say he’d help her. But Lepore allegedly went to where Smiles was, and, when she fell asleep, raped her.

Smiles tweeted the day after the alleged situation: “Be careful of who you trust. Always be cautious for your safety. Be strong and don’t let your guard down…”

She also tweeted several other things that appear to be related to the situation, including “People are so crazy in this world. Please be safe.” and “I don’t feel like living on this planet today. Goodbye.”

The pair initially met in New York City after getting in touch via Vine last summer. Hundreds of fans were present for the first meeting.

They filmed Vines together while together, such as the one below.

Lepore has over 3.4 million followers on Vine, while Smiles has over 2.7 million.

Lepore’s lawyer told TMZ that “Things are not always as they appear and there are two sides to every story.”  

Lepore tweeted on Thursday regarding the story: “Wow. TMZ? It all makes sense now. Let the second publicity stunt begin!”

Smiles, apparently in connection with the situation, tweeted: “I stopped living my life 6 months ago for a very long time and that is NOT going to happen again. This is all I will say. Love you all.”