In the beginning of July, a domestic abuse restraining order was filed against Ricky Martin in Puerto Rico. It was a big mystery… until it wasn’t. In the past week, we learned that Ricky’s 21-year-old nephew was the one who requested the restraining order. The nephew, Dennis Yadiel Sanchez, claimed that he and Ricky had a seven-month-long sexual relationship which ended poorly, and that Ricky was harassing him or threatening him in some way. Family members came out to claim that Sanchez struggles with mental health issues. Sanchez and Martin were due in court on Thursday for a hearing to determine (among other things) the validity of Sanchez’s claims and whether the restraining order should be kept in place. Then on Thursday, Sanchez’s lawyer asked that the case be dismissed.
The court case against Ricky Martin has been dismissed. Martin’s nephew, who’d accused the “Livin’ La Vida Loca” singer of sexual abuse, asked to have the case dismissed in a Puerto Rican court on Thursday, and his request was obliged, attorneys for Martin told PEOPLE in a statement.
“Just as we had anticipated, the temporary protection order was not extended by the Court. The accuser confirmed to the court that his decision to dismiss the matter was his alone, without any outside influence or pressure, and the accuser confirmed he was satisfied with his legal representation in the matter,” the statement read. “The request came from the accuser asking to dismiss the case.”
The statement continued: “This was never anything more than a troubled individual making false allegations with absolutely nothing to substantiate them. We are glad that our client saw justice done and can now move forward with his life and his career.”
“This was never anything more than a troubled individual making false allegations with absolutely nothing to substantiate them.” Eh… maybe that was it exactly, that a young man in the throes of mental illness made up a story. But the whole idea that any victim would have to immediately “substantiate” their claims of abuse is a pretty bad precedent. Ricky also made an additional statement to the media and to his fans:
“I’m in front of the cameras today because I really need to talk in order for me to start my healing process. For two weeks, I was not allowed to defend myself because I was following a procedure where the law obligated me not to talk until I was in front of a judge. Thank God [these] claims were proven to be false, but I’m going to tell you the truth. It has been so painful. It has been devastating for me, for my family, for my friends. I don’t wish this upon anybody.”
“To the person that was claiming this nonsense, I wish him the best. And I wish he finds the help so he can start a new life filled with love and truth and joy and he doesn’t hurt anybody else. Now, my priority is to heal. And how do I heal? With music. I cannot wait to be back on stage. I cannot wait to be back in front of the cameras, and entertain, which is what I do best.”
“Thank you to all of my friends. Thank you to all the fans who always believed in me. You have no idea the strength that you gave me with every comment you wrote on social media. I wish you love and light and here we come, with the same strength and passion. God bless you all.”
The immediate positioning from Ricky that he alone is the victim, the claim that he has been “proven” innocent (when his nephew merely dropped the claim), the immediate side-step to his career and wanting to get back on stage…I’m not sure any of this is the right tone, honestly. Purely from a PR perspective. That’s all I’ll say.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Ricky Martin attends the screening of “Elvis” during the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 25, 2022 in Cannes, France.,Image: 694463440, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Olivier Huitel / Avalon
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- Ricky Martin attends the screening of “Elvis” during the 75th annual Cannes film festival at Palais des Festivals on May 25, 2022 in Cannes, France.,Image: 694463525, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Olivier Huitel / Avalon
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- Ricky Martin,Image: 694517093, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Norbert Scanella / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Ricky Martin – Jwan Yosef,Image: 694517107, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Norbert Scanella / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Ricky Martin and Jwan Yosef – amfAR Gala Cannes 2022 – Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc – Cannes Film Festival 2022 -,Image: 695830852, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NOGER,NOAUS,NOSWISS, Model Release: no, Pictured: amfAR Gala – Cannes Film Festiva, Credit line: F.Altmann / Bang Showbiz / Avalon
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- Ricky Martin seen at the 28th annual amfAR Gala Cannes during the 75th Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, May. 26, 2022 at Hotel du Cap, Eden Roc .,Image: 696334755, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
Yeah his statement isn’t great and I hope the young man gets the help he so desperately needs.
Claiming his nephew made up the claim because of mental illness so quickly also left a bad taste in my mouth. This makes me inclined to believe the nephew although something so sickening is hard for me to fathom.
The way the family came out of the woodwork to publicly stand against the nephew’s claims of abuse is suspicious. The way Ricky is so dismissive of this huge allegation.
There have been rumors about Rocky Martin for years and years. So, I don’t buy this and I hope that survivor gets the real help he needs to heal.
What are the rumors? This is a gossip site, after all, lol!
What is the rumour?
It’s suspicious that your family defends you? Is that because he’s a gay man? This 21 yrs old whose family says he has mental health issues would have had to show some evidence to the judge of a 7 mth relationship with his uncle if he didn’t drop his request for a restraining order. Commenting as a gay woman who laughed as you all performed your trans inclusivity a few weeks ago & then wasn’t the slightest bit shocked when you decided Ricky Martin was guilty of incest and abuse because…he’s gay & therefore… I’m not sure how I’d speak publicly about such reputation destroying accusations as these, although I do know how I deal privately with all the homophobia I encounter in my daily life. Anyway, according to you there are rumours about Ricky Martin and have been for years so that must make him guilty. First look at the language you are all using in these comments – suss, weird, suspicious, then look at your faux concern for the respect paid to the mental health of someone whose own family says he’s not well. Then look at your total lack of empathy for the gay man & your distrust of the family who rushed to support him. After you say hi to your homophobia, do all us gay people a favour & start to address it.
@Simone: You’re raising a good point. I mean, American politicians are campaigning on the lie that gay people are grooming and molesting children in schools and other public places.
In the context of a political and social environment that is becoming increasingly dangerous for queer people and families, Martin’s statement is absolutely appropriate. Anything “loving” would be interpreted as guilt. Accusing a gay father of 3 of incest in 2022 without the evidence to back those claims up is cruel and dangerous.
@Simone – YES TO EVERYTHING YOU SAID!
I don’t think that’s suspicious. To me, it makes it more credible that Rickey is innocent. I don’t see a high possibility of family members covering for the perpetrator in an incest case.
@Simone, I agree with you. I struggle with mental illness and although I’ve never made false accusations like these, when in the throes of an episode, I have done some really crazy sht. I don’t know if this young man is truly ill, or the family rushed to cover for Ricky, but I do know that I was reserving judgment until the case went further.
I do feel sorry for Ricky. These allegations will follow him forever and since the charges were dropped people will always wonder in the back of their minds. It will probably hurt his career and he never got his day in court.
On the other hand, maybe he is guilty. I don’t know, however, because we never heard anything but the accusations and it’s essentially his word vs. the nephew. I just think there’s not enough information for the public to decide either way, but those who have decided he’s guilty will never change their minds. I’m very sad for that.
“There have been rumors about Rocky Martin for years and years.”
the only “rumors” I ever heard about him was that he was gay, and that was of course before he came out.
so, what “rumors” do you refer to?
and Simone, 100%.
I was inclined to believe the nephew because a court of law granted him a restraining order based on evidence he provided & that is where he went- not twitter or other triangulation methods like most people having an episode use. From someone who studied abuse & incest in families, this case is alarming & should be. If the nephew is mentally ill, he could still be a victim, and if he is not a victim, then I hope he seriously gets the help he needs.
Well said, Simone.
@Queen Meghan’s Hand: This comment is about the last sentence about accusing a father of 3. At the age of 45 I revealed to my family about being molested when I was 8 years old. He is a PhD in Chemistry, considered a pious and wise man, helpful, popular, and father of 3. And no, I did not have proof.
I’m not sure a lot of people are buying this. I have seen a lot of posts saying that Ricky leveraged his wealth and fame to silence the victim in order to subvert due process, and those were comments from people ON the island (with a very macho/homophobic culture). I don’t think this is going to go away as easily as Ricky hopes.
I imagine Ricky Martin is a source of financial support for his extended family. This would be a strong motivator for them to sweep this under the rug. No idea if the accusations are true or not, just that the whole family supporting RM and shutting down the nephew doesn’t necessarily mean they’re telling the truth.
Agree. Ricky and his family must have put so much pressure on his nephew to drop it. I don’t believe Ricky. Very suspicious.
Yeah, nothing was proven. Nephew just dropped the accusations, I’m finding this very very sus
That language alone makes me suspicious and brings to mind the people who claim Woody Allen was ‘proven’ innocent. No, no he was not. This whole situation is very strange and it feels like mental illness is being used in a very negative way.
Also makes me wonder if the nephew’s mental illness was precipitated BY the abuse. To all saying that an entire family would not defend an abuser…yeah, they would. The alleged abuser in this case is more “valuable” to the family than the abused. This happens all the time.
People that don’t know anyone with serious but non-critical mental illness, like a personality disorder, really need to be wary about placing judgment. Everyone acts like saying “this person has a mental illness that caused them to act in a callous manner towards me, but I want to move on with my own life and not worry about them” is some way of “playing the victim” or bullying or sidelining the mentally ill…when it’s just being honest.
If you haven’t had insane lies, things anyone close to you knows you wouldn’t do but have been given authenticity by someone that was once close to you, told about you to people you care about without the opportunity to defend yourself, you really don’t get how it feels. You won’t understand how people demanding you not “dismiss” or “be insensitive to” the insane lies just seems like you being victimized again.
I recently found out that someone I considered a close friend had routinely been running me down to people we both know, telling them I was materialistic and selfish. 90% of my interactions with this person have been either me helping them or just hanging out, and I can count on one hand how many times they’ve done anything for me, but apparently multiple people were told what a horrible user I was. Now imagine telling me to be sensitive to that kind of cruel and unfathomable sabotage (I work with some of these people), just because the person that did it has BPD II. Till it happens to you, you just won’t get it. It’s technically not their fault, but there’s no need to pretend they are equally a victim or should be the main focus of restorative justice.
Dee- I hear you.
Dee I’m so sorry that has happened to you. You’ve been treated horribly and I can’t even imagine how that affected your trust in people.
I think in this case, Ricky has a team of people who should have made sure that statement was a bit more balanced. Of course he would feel horrible if his nephew made up the accusations but the team of professionals that work for him, should have created a statement that is safe both for him and for people with mental illness
@Denise – you’re assuming the talent in question i.e. Ricky, will listen to his team. They do not control him. They can only advise. And more often than not, especially at his level of success, the talent does not listen when advised.
This is about abuse not about lies about being materialistic. Of course people with mental illness can lie but you seem to be overidentifying with Ricky here. Both things can be true – that person with BPD is a liar and Ricky Martin can be a incestuous abuser.
I think Dee’s argument that people can be unreliable narrators still stands regardless of the type of accusation. And certain types of mental illness increase the possibility that an individual is an unreliable narrator.
Every victim deserves to be heard and supported, but that does not automatically mean that every victim is telling whole truths. I hope that Ricky’s nephew was heard, and that Ricky’s money is not covering up horrific abuse. But I also acknowledge the possibility that Ricky’s nephew has a mental health condition that could cause him to be delusional. None of us on this thread know enough about this specific situation to know where the facts lie.
I agree. I don’t know how else Ricky is supposed to react if he is innocent but had to deal with being silent while gross accusations are made. It’s damaging and he is a victim, how strange for someone to insinuate he isn’t. Imagine this happening to someone without the funds to afford good lawyer or good representation.
This. I have a cousin with schizophrenia, a friend with bipolar II, and an ex-friend with borderline personality disorder. All of them, in their pre-treatment or unmedicated states, could have been capable of what Ricky’s accuser did. I’ve seen one of them accuse 6 different family members simultaneously of having sex with their children, including people who were in their 90s when the kids were born, and then abduct their own children to get away, totally unfounded. It was an absolute nightmare for all parties. A forensic psychologist assessed the child and all the family members. The courts were involved. People do make false accusations, and horrific ones, when their mental health issues are untreated.
This this this this this x1000
I never really believed the claims but this statement is YUCK! And makes me think a lot worse of Ricky, including that something weird could be up.
Granted, I’ve never been accused of something awful, but if someone made a wild accusation about me that didn’t go anywhere, my statement would be more like “this has been very confusing and upsetting. I don’t hold any animosity toward my nephew and hope he has the support he needs at this time. I’m making a donation to X mental health charity” or something. Him being so wildly defensive and wounded, along with promoting his career is GROSS.
I like all of this.
I hate this whole story for all the reasons and don’t want to judge Ricky or his nephew. But on being accused, I have a brother who is a classic unreliable narrator, he loves drama and creating conflict. The rest of my family don’t always see that, he gets a pass because of health issues. Well last year he made up drama about me and infected the rest of my family. Some of whom no longer speak to me because of it. All lies. He actually told me he was going to do that. He’s also an alcoholic so that’s a thing about the truth of this case. No matter what, Ricky will always be guilty in some eyes.
False accusations really suck. But I’ve also been abused and that sucks worse. There are no answers as no one here knows anything.
This comment sums it all up right here. Everyone here is commenting from their own life experiences (as we all do) and everyone has made valid points. This situation is so sad.
I have no idea what the truth is in this situation but I will say that Ricky’s lawyer Marty Singer is VERY VERY VERY powerful and has often represented celebrities with some big legal issues. I would not trust the fact that the guy dropped the case to mean there was no “there” there.
Yes, this lawyer is very effective. Wasn’t he the one who got Chris Brown off for multiple accusations of rape and violence?
Lawyering up w Singer is not a good look.
Blaming the claims on mental illness is not a good look.
I just… I don’t like this story. I don’t like that a young gay man is being painted as a disordered liar. It reminds me far too strongly of how womens claims are dismissed because they are ‘crazy’. Leaving out the fact that if he was groomed and molested by his incredibly wealthy and famous uncle the young man would be dealing with a lot.
He had to publicly out himself without the protection of wealth as both gay and a victim. He lawyered up and wasn’t immediately dismissed. I just don’t see it being as simple as ‘he lied’.
I was withholding judgment until more information was released. I’m sure something like this is damaging to the psyche when you are innocent. The ending of Ricky Martins statement was crass but honestly Ricky Martin seems a little crass in nature.
My issue with the statement is the lack of caring showed toward his nephew. If your family, your blood, your nephew suffers from mental problems this is not the statement you make. Just say I’m grateful it’s over and I will help my brother in any way that I can to help my nephew. Something is very, very wrong and I hope that that young man gets the help he deserves and is protected.
” Just say I’m grateful it’s over and I will help my brother in any way that I can to help my nephew.”
People are asking what he should have said and I think this is the answer. The statement was BAD.
If he is innocent of the crimes accused, he has had to stay silent while his hard earned reputation as a successful, openly gay parent has been trashed, potentially forever. He will now always be subject to people saying his behavior is ‘sus’ or seems off or that he paid off his accuser. I could only be so gracious towards the person who inflicted this damage with false accusations, if I were in his shoes.
^^ that’s what I was thinking, too, Owlsyn. People are so quick to believe that gay men are predators and it’s sickening. Many people will believe that his family is only standing up for him because he is wealthy and powerful; this accusation will haunt him for a long time. I also doubt this is the first situation with the nephew, if he is an unreliable narrator. I would be frustrated, too. Hoping that everyone gets the help that they need here. Sigh.
Sometimes family members, your blood, do horrible things to you because of untreated mental illness, you don’t HAVE to be caring and supportive, you can just cut them off.
Buying into the “it’s your blood, you should be nice” is problematic in my opinion, it helps normalize emotional blackmailing by your relatives, not cool.
My first theory is there was a relationship that didn’t end up well. And that was a way to get back at Ricky.
The second is there was indeed abuse and he got paid to drop the claims.
His nephew has struggled with mental health issues and drug addiction for years. He has multiple DV claims against him and active restraining orders from previous partners. His timeline of the accusation also doesn’t line up as Ricky Martin has been out of the country filming for the majority of the time the nephew alleged the relationship occurred. The family was practicing “tough love” on the nephew and had cut him off financially. Many in Puerto Rico didn’t jump on this story bc they were aware of the situation and the nephew couldn’t substantiate the claims…meaning forget providing a single text or call record to show they were even in communication, but also couldn’t prove physical harassment as he wasn’t in the country which is why he had to withdraw his accusation. Also…the accusation was incest and harassment ie he alleged a consensual adult relationship …amongst relatives (YUCK) and then subsequent harassment at the end of the relationship a lot of people are treating this as if Ricky was being accused of SA’ing his nephew and his nephew not being able to prove that….that was not the case.
Yet most people on this post believe everything about this is SUSS.
Thanks for adding more context to this story.
the nephew has a history of false allegations and his entire family is aware of it.
Ok thank you for explaining, this makes much more sense!
I never believed this for a second, and I’m sorry but y’all tone policing him is wild to me.
He, as a gay man, is already under the microscope by bigots who right now in 2022 are calling gay/trans people pedophiles and groomers. This could have absolutely ended his career. He has children, what if CPS got involved?
Further, and this is from very personal experience, if his nephew is mentally ill and refuses to take medication, the resentment builds up eventually. I can’t tell you the absolute chaos and emotional torture my family member puts her kids and the rest of us through when she’s manic, yet she refuses to medicate. I have cut her off completely after she physically attacked her 15 year old daughter and i have to work hard to manage my resentment. I’m not sure I could have been any more gracious than Ricky was.
Agree re Ricky’s vulnerability as a gay man/gay parent and what it’s like to deal with destructively mentally ill family members.
@Colby, I agree completely.
If you’ve experienced someone in your life who is manic (or has a personality disorder) and has spread horrible lies about you, you get it. I’ve been there. It’s just a horrible experience. And I wasn’t perfectly measured in my responses to defend myself, so I get why Ricky’s statement isn’t coming across as saint-like levels of patience and professionalism.
For those who haven’t experienced this, count yourselves lucky. Yes, some people (not all people) with mental illness and/or PDs can do really horrible things. I don’t know why, but I know it happens.
By your own logic isn’t the younger, poorer gay relative MORE at risk?
Of course he is. I don’t think anyone is denying that. My family member is a poor woman. That doesn’t make her delusions true.
What we are saying is that when people lose touch with reality, they say things that are completely untrue.
As you can read, some of us have actual first hand experience with this.
A lot of the comments on this story are very, very judgemental and, frankly, frightning.
The man’s father stated his son suffers from mental illness and the allegations were unfounded. So you mean to say Martin’s whole family rallied against one of their members for… what, Ricky’s money and influence?
Martin’s statement is crass but really, if someone accused you of incest, especially someone you know to suffer from a mental illness (some mental illnesses other than depression and anxiety) therefore he/she is also damaging him/herself, and your REPUTATION is at stake and being attacked by homophobed with an agenda, what would your reaction be?
It wasn’t the father who said he had mental health issues, it was Ricky’s brother (his other uncle). I believe the accuser is his sister’s son.
My suspicion towards the allegations has nothing to do with Ricky being gay. If he was straight I would feel the same way. My suspicion comes from him being rich and famous. He could easily pay off his whole family and they may not want to banished from him. It seems like no one in the family really wants to put up with the nephew so it’s easier to just take Ricky’s side. Look at Britney Spears. No one in her family tried to help her while her father controlled all her money.
I’m sorry, but I’m from a culture/area very similar to PR (not saying where exactly, because the internet). I feel like a lot of y’all REALLY don’t understand how homophobic some parts of the world are, even if on the surface it doesn’t seem that way. Think of the people in the US calling gay men groomers, and multiple by that 50, and you have the country where I was born. One of parents was an immigrant, and from an even less gay friendly country. H*ll, being gay is still ILLEGAL in parts of the Caribbean. The US is terrible-it’s also probably in the top ten countries to be LGBTQ.
I didn’t buy this for a second (having read the Spanish language press). The nephew had a serious history of mental health issues, criminal reports, false accusations, and more. The entire family, more or less, came out-even his father-to denounce him. The fact that it even went this far was insane and likely in large part due to homophobia.
Maybe it’s not terribly politically correct, but yes, he probably did make up this claim because he’s mentally ill. And no, I don’t blame Ricky for being salty in the press. He will forever be followed by this for the rest of his life, he has young kids, and while mental illness is tragic he’s entitled to be furious that his nephew has done this to him. If I was Ricky, I’d sue the sh*t out of the little a-hole, mental illness or not. He does not have to be gracious to this man who slandered him.
I’d be interested in seeing more. Do we have any evidence of the nephews history of false accusations?
If they were all false why isn’t he in jail for perjury or falsely reporting a crime?
You may be surprised learn how rarely that EVER happens.
Well I’m glad so many ppl here seem to be such kind generous souls, who undoubtedly would immediately help and support someone who made horrible false accusations about them which will be remembered forever….
I might be a petty bitch, but I own it and if I would be in RM’s shoes I would be furious and not feel at all generous towards the accuser. In fact I would probably make sure to cut all contact with him, family or not.
This is really tough for so many reasons.
People with certain kinds of mental illness (BPD/NPD/HPD/bi-polar) often create huge falsehoods and fantasies to garner sympathy, pity, attention, especially against those they are jealous of. My sister had severe BPD/NPD and spread the most astonishing lies about me, my parents, certain friends she perceived had more than she did. I could never understand why her husband was so standoffish with me and only found out after she died. It took us a long time to straighten him out and get him to understand the truth. Same happened with my partner’s ex-wife who is BPD/HPD — she left him but the minute she found out he was seeing someone else (me) the lying started up full tilt. She told everyone we carried on an affair for years before she left him; he was abusive; he abandoned his family; etc. etc. So yes, I can understand this kind of attack if his nephew is, as is stated by his family, suffering from a mental illness, and Ricky Martin has every right to defend himself as a wronged individual.
Ricky’s statement is terrible.
I never believed it to begin with. It didn’t make logical sense. People are desperate for money these days and will try anything. Glad Ricky is clear from this, but there will always people who want to see evil in people that will believe the nephew unfortunately.
Your take comes off as deeply homophobic. And yeah, I an aware his nephew is gay. That doesn’t make him a groomer, etc. Y’all love to fall in line with that Kevin Spacey narrative too easy.
I haven’t commented on this yet because…because I just don’t know. If I believe the nephew, it’s just awful. If I believe the “superstar,” it’s still so awful as he’s sidestepping his nephew. None of this palatable.
I wonder if the nephew was being abused. But no one would listen. So if he says it’s Ricky the world listens. And whoever the real person was that was abusing him stops.
I feel for the nephew he needs help and hope he gets it.
On a microlevel I was accused of false statements at my job. And if had not been for the fact the accuser forgot the manager was in the room when she said it happened. I would have been in deep poo. I have never been so angry and hurt in my life over being lied about for someone who had an irrational vendettta against me. So while Ricky may have been crass. I get it. When it’s your reputation and career it’s a lot different . Than from the vantage point of being a reporter on it.
Jaded, people with psychosis create confabulations (they believe what they say, but what they say is in reality false). This creates terrible consequences for all parties. I am not at ALL saying this is what happened in Ricky’s case. I’m just stating another mental illness that leads to false accusations (again, not saying the nephew has this mental illness OR made false accusations). I honestly don’t think there’s enough (or any) evidence available to the public to take a stand either way, which is a shame for all parties. Also, there are privacy issues (not for a crime committed, but for sensitive information about the health of individuals).
I’m going to very respectfully say that I disagree that anyone viewing this as suspicious is necessarily being homophobic, if only because my immediate parallels are cases where women have accused powerful men of sexual misconduct and my instinct is to believe the accuser over the accused, because of how little there is to gain from coming forward.
I DO have an unfair bias, which is: I tend to unfairly assume people in power will use that power to obtain sexual favors from others, and that anyone recanting might simply be bowing under pressure. So I’m probably less likely to believe Ricky than his accuser, but I’m also less likely to believe Justin Timberlake than a woman who accuses him, even if she rescinds her complaint.