Braden Peters, the controversial “Looksmaxxing” influencer known as Braden Peters, pleaded not guilty to criminal rape charges in Massachusetts on Thursday, according to NBC News. He had been accused of assaulting another influencer, who was a teenager
at the time, at his family’s home on Cape Cod in May 2025.
A judge set Peters’ bail at $10,000 at the arraignment. His lawyers had argued a day prior that the influencer neither posed a danger to his community nor a flight risk. Peters has no previous felony convictions. NBC reported that Peters paid the amount in cash on Thursday. The New York Times reported that Peters surrendered his passport and agreed to stay away from the influencer who accused him or address her online.
In September, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts charged Peters with two felonies — one for rape and a drug charge related to sexual intercourse — and a misdemeanor for procuring liquor for under age 21. The alleged incidents took place on May 23, 2025, a date that aligns with events described in a civil suit that Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza, an influencer better known as Alorah Ziva, filed in April.
In Mendoza’s suit, which alleged claims of battery, emotional distress, and fraud against Peters, she claimed he invited her to his family’s home on Cape Cod, where he gave her alcohol and that he allegedly had sex with her at a point when she was so drunk she couldn’t give consent. Additionally, it claimed, “That morning, while Mendoza was asleep, she woke up with Peters penetrating her and having sex with her, again without her consent.” Her filing claimed that Peters also gave her an unapproved drug that may have included some kind of methamphetamine. A police report The New York Times obtained said Mendoza was 17 at the time of the alleged events.
Mendoza refiled the suit without the sexual assault allegations in October, according to NBC, which reported that her lawyer had said it would not interfere with the criminal case.
Mendoza’s lawyer had no comment on Peters’ plea on Thursday. A rep for Peters also had no comment. The influencer previously denied any wrongdoing in a series of social media posts.
NBC reports that in their petition for a lower bail amount on Wednesday, Peters’ lawyers outlined what could be his defense at trial. They claimed that Mendoza had agreed to make social media posts with Peters and had described him as “so nice.” They said she also continued to collaborate with him after the date of the alleged incident. The filing included a handwritten note in which Mendoza allegedly wrote, “Braden, you have my loyalty 100% … I admire the man you are.”
Outside of the criminal charges, Peters has been at the center of many controversies, including allegedly shooting a dead alligator in Florida.
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