If you were ever wondering how to behave on the off chance that you’re accused of rape one day, do not follow Vine celeb Curtis Lepore‘s lead.
Here’s the back story: Mr. Lepore and Jessi Vazquez, known as Jessi Smiles, met through Vine, the six‐second video sharing service that’s mainly popular with teens. They started dating, and weren’t shy about broadcasting their relationship to their Vine and Twitter followers.
Then, they broke up last August in Los Angeles. Shortly after, Ms. Vazquez got a concussion and Mr. Lepore visited her. She claims that he raped her while she slept.
We don’t know what actually happened between Mr. Lepore and Ms. Vazquez that night. Maybe the accusations are legit; maybe not. What we do know is that he took a plea deal on Feb. 21, pleading guilty to felony assault and effectively ridding himself of the rape charge. Here’s what his accuser had to say:
Curtis plead guilty to a felony assault today in court. It is no longer going to trial. I am okay with this and thankful for it to be over.
— Jessi Smiles (@jessismiles__) February 21, 2014
And here’s his version, after a two‐tweet buildup announcing he had some good news to share:
The rape charge against me has been dismissed! http://t.co/LctfhzZI9B
— Curtis Lepore (@curtislepore) February 21, 2014
Thank you! ❤️ https://t.co/AtCYXtJPJr
— curtis lepore (@curtislepore) February 21, 2014
Ever since, he’s been taking to Twitter to continue acting piggish about the whole thing. (And legions of young girls are supporting him, but that’s another issue.) So, here are some examples of what not to say if you find yourself celebrating the fact that you’ve plead guilty to felony assault instead of rape.
Ever seen a girl lie and manipulate a man to get her way? I dated one girl that told me she was gonna be 21 when she was only 19. Weird huh
— curtis lepore (@curtislepore) February 24, 2014
always talked about being rich and famous too and broke up with me to focus on her "career." After her first production offer for $400k
— curtis lepore (@curtislepore) February 24, 2014
America, do we need to have a talk with our boys and tell them that even if a girl lies to you, prefers her career over you, and dumps you, you still don’t have the right to assault her?
Too bad that all fell through. Anyways I can't get to the good part of my story until late February 2015 so you'll have to wait.
— curtis lepore (@curtislepore) February 24, 2014
A cliffhanger, too! Awesome. Go on, Curtis, please:
“@angieXOvee: @curtislepore should just be mine already.” Promise not to use me for vine fame?
— curtis lepore (@curtislepore) February 24, 2014
He also provides a great example of how not to deal with reporters who are asking you questions about your rape charges:
https://twitter.com/curtislepore/statuses/437807835687034882
He proves that he’d rather mock his critics than consider what they’re saying about date rape and acquaintance rape:
By the way, this guy is 25 30! years old, not 13.
He even brags about how well his career is going despite the criminal charges:
https://twitter.com/curtislepore/statuses/437834073327681536
He also weirdly appears to compare Ms. Vazquez with his mom:
Don't forget about the only woman that will always be there for you. Night pic.twitter.com/rdYSHMgYXR
— curtis lepore (@curtislepore) February 24, 2014
Here is the one instance in which Mr. Lepore kind of addresses the circumstances of what happened. He also asks his followers to stop “threatening” and “slut shaming,” because they’re the immature bullies in this situation:
Enough. pic.twitter.com/opYa9HcjwM
— curtis lepore (@curtislepore) February 25, 2014
Oh, he also tweeted, “FAV this if you would willingly have sex with me,” but then deleted it, maybe because someone explained to him that just because some people want to have sex with you doesn’t mean you’re incapable of being accused of rape? There are more deleted tweets here.
Meanwhile, Ms. Vazquez clearly realizes that she doesn’t have to say anything to make Mr. Lepore look unhinged; he’s doing it for her.
Beyond thankful for all of your support over these past months.
— Jessi Smiles (@jessismiles__) February 21, 2014
Just to be clear: again, we have no idea what truly happened between Mr. Lepore and Ms. Vazquez and we never will. He could be totally innocent. He may not be a rapist — but thanks to his social media presence, we can confirm that he is an egocentric, misogynistic, self‐absorbed baby.
(CORRECTION: A previous version of this article stated that Mr. Lepore was 25 while he is actually 30.)