- TikTok star
Jack Wright has accused fellow influencerSienna Mae Gomez of sexual assault. - It follows months of speculation after a friend of Wright first made the allegations.
- The pair, both 18, have known each other since high school and appeared together in multiple videos.
Sienna Mae Gomez, a hugely popular California-based TikToker, has been accused of sexual assault by her former friend and fellow TikTok star Jack Wright.
The allegations follow months of speculation after a friend of Wright first made the accusation in May 2021. Gomez denied the allegations in two separate videos she posted to her Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube pages in June, and in a statement shared with Insider at the time.
Wright had never explicitly addressed the claims, but on January 20 he posted a YouTube video titled "what sienna mae did to me," where he described four interactions in which he said Gomez touched him without his consent.
Gomez and Wright never publicly confirmed a relationship but began posting videos that showed them kissing, hugging, cuddling, and dancing with each other on their respective social media platforms in October 2020. Bolstered by their apparent relationship, Gomez accumulated over 14.5 million followers and Wright amassed over 9 million on their main TikTok accounts.
During 2021, the two slowly stopped making videos together. On May 30, Wright's friend, Mason Rizzo — who had over 184,000 TikTok followers — posted a screenshot of a Notes app page with allegations that Gomez sexually assaulted Wright and that she was verbally abusive to him and others.
After the allegations were posted, Wright retweeted them, and social media users appeared to turn on Gomez instantly, who denied the allegations.
In his latest video, Wright said Rizzo's accusation was correct, and said he felt "gaslighted" by Gomez's denial, adding that he was "terrified."
Here's a run-down of how the allegations played out.
Gomez and Wright never confirmed their relationship
While Gomez never confirmed her relationship with Wright, they began frequently appearing on each other's social media pages in October 2020.
@siennamae this is a JOKE ##lol @leahkatemusic
♬ Fuck Up the Friendship - Leah Kate
@jack.wright draft
♬ little dark age by MGMT - anti.audios
The two started to slowly stop appearing in each other's videos and Gomez jokingly "addressed the situation" on TikTok when the
Gomez said fans noticed Wright's absence in her videos and she said it was because they were filming the show. Wright has only been seen in two additional videos with Gomez since.
Rizzo posted the allegations against Gomez in May 2021
On May 30, Wright's friend, Rizzo, posted a statement to social media. He later deleted the detailed allegations of abuse against Gomez and said the dispute would be handled offline.
"I struggle with seeing a girl getting praised after telling my best friend to go kill himself and sexually assault him multiple times after he set boundaries and repeatedly wonder why 'he doesn't like you back,'" the statement read.
Rizzo continued on to claim that Gomez has a history of "verbally abusing people" when she was in high school and Los Angeles, where she now lives, in addition to "prioritizing the growth of her platform."
Gomez began losing hundreds of thousands of followers
Gomez posted videos about reaching 15 million followers on TikTok in early April 2021. This is supported by data on Social Blade — a website that collects social media following data — that was reviewed by Insider.
However, after Rizzo posted the since-deleted allegations to his Twitter, she began hemorrhaging followers by the hundreds of thousands. According to Social Blade, she was at 15.1 million followers on Monday May 31, but by Wednesday June 2, she lost over 400,000 followers.
By Friday June 4 she had lost another 200,000, totaling her loss to over 600,000 followers in under a week. She currently has 14.8 million followers.
Wright's twin brother, James, added to the pile-on
James, Wright's twin brother, used Twitter's quote-tweet function to seemingly substantiate Rizzo's allegations. He wrote in a since-deleted tweet, "this is why 'I couldn't just let it go and stay out of it.'"
James Wright later deleted his tweet when Rizzo put out a statement that said he and the Wright family were working to resolve the issue with the Gomez family offline.
Gomez denied the allegations on June 1
On June 1, Gomez posted an 8-minute video stating that the allegations in Rizzo's tweet are "unequivocally false." She said that she and Wright "never had sex," and that it felt uncomfortable to disclose details about her sexual history because she is underage.
Gomez went on to say that she was in love with Wright during their apparent relationship but said that Wright did not feel the same way toward her. She said the "passion" she felt for Wright is now being misconstrued as desperation and possessiveness.
"Two weeks ago I asked him to film a video with me for my mental health's sake because I couldn't move on with everyone thinking we were still together," Gomez said. "He told me it wasn't healthy for either of us because this would mean losing his online girlfriend."
Gomez also said that she and Wright have said hurtful things to one another, and said that Wright was sexually assaulted by a different woman at a gathering on a night when Gomez wasn't present.
"I'm sorry but for the one time I have to protect myself before I protect you," she said, referring to Wright. "I was trying to keep your name and your personal business out of it but you didn't keep my name and my personal business out of it knowing damn well your friends were going to post those tweets."
Wright released his own statement later that day
On June 2, Wright posted a statement in response to Gomez's video. In it, he wrote that his brother and Rizzo were "only trying to protect me with the truth."
"I truly encourage my childhood friend Sienna to get the support and help that she needs. I don't want to tear anyone down and only wish healing for everyone involved," Wright wrote.
He has yet to personally accuse Gomez of sexual assault or verbal abuse. In her video, Gomez pointed out that Wright un-retweeted the initial accusations against her before they were deleted.
A self-identified witness to the alleged sexual assault posted a video of it on June 3
Another individual named Lachlan Hannemann posted a TikTok on June 3 that he claims contains footage of Gomez sexually assaulting Wright, which Hannemann said he witnessed.
The video has since been removed from Hannemann's account, and he wrote in a follow-up comment that it was removed by TikTok. It is still circulating on TikTok on other accounts.
In the video, which Hannemann said was filmed on November 30, 2020, he showed a clip of Wright appearing to be inebriated to the point of being asleep or otherwise incapacitated. Hannemann said Wright was "passed out, unconscious" in the video.
Hanneman claimed that he was unaware the relationship between Gomez and Wright was "fake" and wasn't alarmed when Gomez sat on top of Wright and started kissing him. Hanneman then showed a clip purported to be Gomez kissing Wright with her hand on Wright's crotch while Wright was incapacitated.
Hanneman went on to say that he pulled Gomez off Wright shortly after the clip was filmed.
Gomez responded again on June 4 and said she had issued cease-and-desist letters
In a second video response, Gomez denied the allegations for a second time. She said that she was a victim of "multiple attempts to cancel me and slander my name." Gomez also said that she has tried multiple times to take the situation offline, but that Wright's friends keep dropping "cryptic" information despite her efforts.
Gomez claimed that it was normal for her and Wright to kiss one another for videos and in private at the time the November 30 video was taken. She also claimed that Wright was not unconscious at the time she started kissing him and that Wright kissed her back on his own accord. Gomez also said her hand was not on Wright's crotch in the video, but was on his thigh.
"The way that Jack's friend narrated this video, I'll admit, looks so weird," Gomez said. "If he was unconscious, why did his arm move when you got up, and also, why was he kissing me back?"
Gomez went on to say that the clips were edited together deceptively and questioned why the alleged assault was recorded by James Wright. She claimed that James filmed the interaction because he perceived it as funny, not because it was perceived as an assault. She also denied that Hanneman pulled her off Wright.
"This video is proof of nothing and instead raises more questions about Jack's issues and his friends' behavior," Gomez said.
Gomez did not feature prominently in the Netflix show about the Hype House TikTokers
When Netflix announced the "Hype House" series in April 2021, it named eight influencers who were set to star, including Sienna May Gomez. Gomez confirmed her participation in a since-deleted Instagram post, where she wrote "thank u @thehypehousela for letting me b in ur show."
However, throughout the show Gomez barely features. She is seen in the background of a party in the first episode, which appeared to be filmed in early 2021, and does not appear again in the subsequent seven episodes.
In a Twitch stream discussing the series on Saturday January 8, one of its stars Larri "Larray" Merritt said he became a bigger part of the storyline than was originally planned, and speculated this was "due to the fact that Sienna and Jack had their altercations and issues," saying that as a result "they needed something with a storyline."
On January 11, Wright posted a TikTok that fans speculated was confirmation of the sexual assault allegations
Wright, who had never directly addressed the allegations, posted a cryptic TikTok on Tuesday January 11. On-screen text read, "can't stay quiet anymore especially when other guys in LA told me what she did to them as well. i'm done being gaslighted and silenced. y'all deserve to know. please give me a little more time but please know that i've had love and support through all this from family, friends, and all of you online."
The TikTok has been viewed more than 8 million times, and has over 35,000 comments, many of which are speculating it refers to the allegations against Gomez. A top comment asking viewers to "explain" has had over 100 replies from people discussing the accusations.
On January 20, Wright posted a YouTube video accusing Sienna Mae Gomez of sexual assault
Wright explicitly addressed the allegations for the first time on January 20 in a YouTube video titled "what sienna mae did to me."
In the video, he accused Gomez of repeatedly touching him and trying to kiss him without his consent. He also said Hannemann's claim that Wright was "unconscious" while Gomez was on top of him was correct.
Wright accused Gomez of "breaking in" to his house on multiple occasions, saying, "When I was sound asleep she would come into my room and I'd wake up to her hand in my pants."
Wright said he and Gomez had known each other since high school, but were never in a relationship and were always "just friends."
"Looking back now I don't know why I stayed friends with her, stayed around her. I truly thought she was going to change," he added.
Neither Gomez nor Wright responded to Insider's request for comment.
A representative for Gomez denied the allegations on January 22
In a statement to NBC News, a representative for Gomez "unequivocally" denied the allegations, and said Wright was "reframing" history and making statements that were "harmful and untrue."
"There has been no police investigation — not even a police report to our knowledge — no charges, no private lawsuit and no contact between Sienna and Jack or their respective legal teams in many months," the representative told NBC News.
The representative for Gomez accused Wright of attempting to "slander" Gomez, per the NBC News report.
"His latest falsehoods in the highly edited video show that once again Jack is making a calculated action to hinder, hurt and harm not only Sienna's reputation and livelihood, but her as an individual human being as well," the representative told the outlet.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.