They were loved. Curtis Lepore and Jessi Smiles. He, a tattooed goofball who's been called the "King of Vine," the Twitter-owned micro-video-blogging platform with a zealous internal community; she, a blonde fellow upstart Vine-jokester whose six-second quips (the longest Vine allows) usually comprise of her acting sexy only to reveal that, for instance, she peed her pants. He flirted with and fell for her, and she for him, as tens of thousands and then hundreds of thousands and now millions of "followers" looked on, watching and adoring their exchanges on Vine and Twitter and Instagram. The two began to video-chat and exchanged phone numbers. Then they announced that they would meet up in Washington Square Park in New York City at three in the afternoon. It'd be the first time they saw each other in person, and everyone was invited.

Hundreds if not thousands of followers showed up. As shown in the video Curtis made of that day, as Jessi walked through the park, she stopped to snap photos with smiling teenage fans, many of whom posted their own Vines of the occasion. And as the two christened their relationship with a kiss, the crowd shrieked, and Jessi adjusted her dress so that her breast didn't fall out in front of the many teenagers circled around her and Curtis, camera phones pointed.

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They were the Vine world's — and arguably social media's — first self-generated celebrity couple, one built by mutual admiration of their six-second video comedy, and fostered with plenty of digital flirtation for all their followers to see and watch and root for and comment on, often punctuated with many exclamation points. The day of the meet-cute, Curtis reached a million followers; in the months since, that has more than tripled, and he has 3.4 million followers (about three times as many people as The Daily Show averaged viewers last week), making him the ninth-most followed person on Vine, according to one count. Three days after the meeting in the park, Jessi hit a million; she now has 2.7 million and is ranked thirteenth most popular overall, second among women.*

They shared photos on Instagram of them cuddling, and took Vines together — one joking that Jessi was pregnant — to utter glee.

It lasted three weeks. On August 21, Jessi tweeted that she was on her way to visit Curtis in Los Angeles; Curtis retweeted the message and a few hours later wrote, "I just shaved my balls, no accidents". But within days, they broke up. According to a long comment left afterward on an Instagram photo of the two of them cuddling in bed in August, Curtis told his fans on a broadcast on Ustream that Jessi "has some big life changes going on right now." The commenter wrote in part, "I really don't understand why this ended... if she really loved you, wouldn't she want to go through those big life changes with you? I'm gonna be honest, from what I saw last night in... your live streams it is very very clear that you love jessi waaaaayyyy more tha[n] she loves you, an[d] it breaks my heart to say that but somebody has to." Another admirer tweeted to Curtis, "yo it's none of my business but u guys should get back together haha she's beautiful and your a bad ass".

A few days later, Jessi concussed herself while making a Vine. Curtis offered to come over and help her recover. It was August 31. That night, according to a TMZ article from today that cites court documents, Jessi alleges that Curtis tried to rape her in her sleep. On September first, Jessi tweeted, "Be careful of who you trust. Always be cautious for your safety. Be strong and don't let your guard down..." TMZ reported that Lepore had been to arrested in October and released on $100,000 bail, and went to court Tuesday to plead not guilty. His lawyer told the site, "Things are not always as they appear, and there are two sides to every story."

If Jessi is telling the truth, then Curtis is a rapist — one whose request of "tweet me ya boobies" garners barely censored photographs from his followers (and sometimes his followers' mothers) like @GracieKaja, who then defended Curtis against a comparison to revenge-porn peddler Hunter Moore. It means that Curtis is a rapist who makes young women's days when they spot him on the street and take selfies with him; one who encouraged over 500 of his fans in a livestream — on the day of the alleged rape — to come up to him if they saw him in real life because it would make his day, adding, "Don't be scared of me. I'm no one to be scared of."

If Curtis is telling the truth — after the article came out today, he tweeted, "Wow. TMZ? It all makes sense now. Let the second publicity stunt begin!" — then Jessi is someone who would cry rape in a reach for fame (perhaps for her singing aspirations) and construct that portrait of a man who'd introduced her to his parents on FaceTime while his mom wept with joy.

Either way, if one of these scenarios is true, then a sociopath has either 3.4 or 2.7 million ardent followers on Vine, rooting for them. Last night, commenters flooded one of Curtis' Vines, which he has since deleted. The comments ranged from "What a cunt" to "Rape a girl. While she sleeps at the same damn time. Go to jail. Go get raped at the same damn time." to "Innocent til proven guilty." to "Jessie wouldn't lie about that. She doesn't need the 'fame.' So fucked up. #unfollowing." to "HEY, YOU THERE, YES YOU! IF YOU LIKE FUNNY VINES! FOLLOW ME! LIKE OR REVINE!!!!!" with a series of emojis afterward, one of which had a lone tear on its cheek.

Nate Hopper Associate editor Nate Hopper is an associate editor for Esquire magazine.

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