Curtis Lepore

From 2009–2012, Curtis Lepore was the frontman of straight edge hardcore band, GhostXShip, a band he helped found in his hometown of Syracuse, New York. In 2012, Lepore left the band.^[5] After leaving the band, Lepore also provided featured vocals on the song "Black Death" for beatdown hardcore band No Zodiac.^[6] Lepore and No Zodiac maintained close ties for many years. Lepore also embarked on a European tour with No Zodiac in 2013 where he provided lead vocals substituting for the band's then-vocalist Gerardo Pavon, who was unable to travel outside the country because of visa issues.

Many of Lepore's [Vine] videos involve collaborations with other Vine stars such as Lele Pons, Christian DelGrosso and KingBach.^[7] Lepore was one of the first clients of Vine talent agency, Grape Story.^[8]

Until a controversy in 2013, Lepore was part of one of the first online celebrity couples with his relationship to video blogger Jessi Smiles.^[1] They were supposedly introduced by Vazquez's manager and engaged in a handful of public stunts and appearances as part of their relationship, including a public meeting in Washington Square Park which featured a live band and a special hashtag to commemorate the event.^[1] At the time, Lepore had over 1 million Vine followers.^[1] As of February 2014, Lepore has 7.5 million followers on Vine.^[9]

Lepore was raised in Smithtown, New York. He attended SUNY Oswego before moving to Los Angeles.^[2] He is vegan and straight edge.^[10] He had a Boston Terrier named Buster Beans whom he adopted in 2010 from an elderly couple who could no longer care for him.^[11] As of March 2015, Buster had over a million of his own followers on Vine.^[7] Buster died later in 2016. Lepore is actively involved in a variety of national and local charitable organizations, such as Stuff-A-Truck, a project which focuses on donating toys to underprivileged children.^[2]

In October 2013, Lepore was alleged to have raped his then-girlfriend, Jessi "Smiles" Vazquez.^[12] The incident occurred when Vazquez was in Los Angeles recovering from a concussion. Vazquez stated that Lepore came over to help while she was recovering, and once asleep, Lepore raped her.^[12][13] Charges were filed in January 2014; Lepore, who pleaded not guilty to the charge, was released on $100,000 bail.^[14][15] In February 2014, Lepore took a plea deal in the case; the rape charges were dropped and he pleaded guilty to felony assault.^[13][16] In February 2015, Lepore's felony assault charges were reduced to a misdemeanor.^[17] In December 2019, Lepore released a statement talking about this case.^[18]