Last month, word came out that YouTuber Mars Argo (born Brittany Sheets) was suing Poppy (born Moriah Pereira) and her creative director Titanic Sinclair (born Corey Mixter) for stealing her identity. On Monday (May 7), the enigmatic pop artist did something she never expected to do—speak publicly as Poppy. She took to Twitter to post an extensive, and deeply personal, statement:

"It has been very painful to read the lawsuit Ms. Sheets filed, and to see the word 'abuser' and my own name in the same sentence," she admits in the lengthy post, referring to Sheets' accusations of Mixter abusing her when the two worked together in the past.

"Something very few people know is that one of the reasons I work the way I work, and why I have made such efforts to conceal my identity, is because I have my own history as a survivor of abuse. This legally documented trauma from my past is something I have never wanted to make public, because I did not want to relive it. Ms. Sheets' publicity campaign has made that impossible."

"She is well aware of the anguish I went through. In an attempt to manipulate me psychologically," the post continues. "Ms. Sheets is now collaborating and maintaining an ongoing relationship with the exact man who took advantage of me when I was young and vulnerable, while at the same time naming me in a lawsuit with allegations of domestic abuse."

In the statement, Poppy also claims she and Mixter didn't hear from Sheets' attorney before TMZ broke the news of the lawsuit, leading her to believe Sheets' real intentions were for publicity's sake and calling it a "desperate grab for fame."

Read the full statement below:

 

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