Image: Sophia Mohan
TW: Mention of Sexual Assault
Jack Wright, a popular TikTok creator, has accused fellow influencer Sienna Mae of sexual harassment.
In a video titled "what sienna mae did to me," Jack opens up about several instances in which Sienna engaged in nonconsensual sexual contact. Although he established their relationship as friends and kept firm boundaries with Sienna, the abuse remained continuous.
There have been accusations of sexual assault against Sienna for quite some time. Fellow TikTok creator Mason Rizzo, also a friend of Jack, released (and deleted) a tweet last May accusing an unnamed girl of "sexually assaulting him [Wright] numerous times after he set boundaries." Jack's twin brother, James, seemingly confirmed the tweet's allegation by reposting it with the caption, "This is why I 'couldn't just let it go and stay out of it.'"
Sienna vehemently denied the allegations. In a statement given to E! News last June, the influencer's representative wrote, "Sienna unequivocally denies the charges made by Mason [Rizzo] and amplified by James [Wright], which have since been taken down. She has never sexually assaulted anyone, nor have she or Jack ever had sexual relations together. Period." The statement goes on to assert that Sienna considers Jack part of her "extended family."
Image: NBC News (left) /The Sun (right)
Until the video's posting last week, Wright has stayed relatively silent. In June, he released only one other Instagram story confirming the assault and saying that he "encourages his childhood friend Sienna to get the support and help that she needs."
According to Jack's retelling, the pair met each other in high school four years ago. Despite not interacting much initially, their own respective TikTok successes prompted Sienna to invite Jack for an interview.
Both influencers started making appearances in each other's TikTok videos doing various dance challenges and comedy videos. Their respective cameos prompted rumours of a relationship between the pair. However, neither ever explicitly confirmed the rumours but were often seen being affectionate in several videos.
In his video, Jack describes several distressing incidents in which Sienna regularly broke into his house and assaulted him as he slept or picked the lock of his bathroom as he showered. He noted how Sienna would wait
until he was physically or emotionally Image: IG @jack.wright1
vulnerable to initiate contact, be it while he was sleeping or feeling emotionally charged. Perhaps the most sinister part of the video was the inclusion of a clip showing Sienna on top of, groping and kissing a clearly unconscious Jack.
In a heartbreaking confession, Jack reveals how the cycle of abuse led him to feel trapped, anxious about falling asleep and repeatedly gaslighted by Sienna, who insisted she had strong feelings for him. According to him, the assaults were so regular that they eventually just became normalised.
In response to the recent video, Sienna wrote an article on Medium. She writes,
"Consent isn't really something that is formally taught in school. My parents have been married for 23 years, and I grew up watching them freely express affection to each other. I understand now not everyone has this comfortability with affection."
While Sienna denies the allegations, she explains that Jack and her began to form a TikTok relationship, and the lines between real and fake began to blur. Although she admits having real feelings for him, she accuses Jack of using her to increase his online popularity. Further, she says Jack is trying to portray her as "overly sexualized" and "loud," a damaging stereotype that is typically weaponized against young Latina women.
Since going public with his story, Jack reports other men have approached him about their alleged experiences with Sienna. Despite their anonymity in Jack's videos, screenshots of their messages revealed that they also felt Sienna crossed their boundaries.
Following the release of Sienna's medium article, Jack published a statement in which he said,
"I truly appreciate Sienna's acknowledgement that she made mistakes and that she did not fully understand consent. It is a step in a positive direction. I believe Sienna is struggling to face the truth and the harmful, painful choices she's made. Every word in my video is the truth. I hope she continues to get the help she needs so this never happens again."
Since the allegations were first hinted at in May 2021, Sienna has lost approximately 1 million followers on TikTok. She originally had 14.9 million followers and now has 13.9, a significant loss that speaks to the public’s reaction to this issue.
Despite the backlash from her followers, Sienna has still maintained the support of several influencers. Since Jack uploaded his video, Sienna was seen hanging out with influencers such as Tana Mongeau and Summer Mckeen.
In fact, in a recent BFF's podcast episode, co-host David Portnoy revealed he was planning to have Sienna on the show to "explain her side." As a result, Sienna was featured in the most recent episode of the podcast.
This whole situation poses a very critical, deep question about society, gender roles, and consent. Even though there is disturbing video evidence of Sienna crossing a serious boundary, why are people curious to hear her side? Would we feel the same if the roles were reversed?
As Jack's video was only posted eleven days ago, the entirety of the backlash remains to be seen. But his story points a big mirror to society's face. A staggering statistic suggests that "1 in 6 men will experience sexual violence in their lifetime." Yet, male sexual assault is rarely talked about or reported, leading many to believe it "does not happen." But the truth is, it does happen, and there simply are not enough structures to support male survivors. The reporting rate for male sexual assault cases is significantly lower than women's cases (a low number itself).
Having read about Jack Wright's story, a question must be asked: do we believe and support male sexual assault survivors as much as we do female survivors?
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