Nick Carter files $3.4M defamation lawsuit against rape accuser

NOTE: The following article contains disturbing content. Please read at your own discretion.

Backstreet Boys star Nick Carter has filed a US$2.5-million (C$3.42 million) countersuit against one of several women who have accused him of rape and sexual assault.

Carter has denied all allegations made by Melissa Schuman, a former member of the girl group Dream, in her April 2023 lawsuit filed against him for sexual assault and battery. He is suing her for defamation and interference with existing and prospective business contracts.

Schuman told the court the 44-year-old singer sexually assaulted and raped her at his Santa Monica, Calif., apartment in 2003 after giving her a sedative. At the time, Carter (then 22) and Schuman (then 18) were co-workers filming the thriller movie The Hollow. 

Carter’s counterclaim was filed in the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County on July 26 but has only recently come to public light.

Through his lawyers, Carter said Schuman’s lawsuit caused him to lose US$2.5 million in business partnership deals with MeUndies, VRBO, Roblox and The Children’s Place, according to a Rolling Stone report. Carter also said ticket sales for his shows have slowed as a result of thes lawsuit, leading to less profit.

One concert venue cancelled his concert appearance entirely and “cost Carter hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the lawsuit reads.

Carter’s countersuit maintains he has been “falsely accused” of wrongdoing by Schuman, who has a “thirst for Internet relevance.” His lawsuit claims Carter and Schuman had a “flirtatious” dynamic prior to having consensual sex in 2003.

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Schuman first accused Carter of rape and sexual assault in a blog post from 2017.

0:38 Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter accused of rape by member of girl-group Dream

Carter also has another defamation suit filed against Schuman in Las Vegas. The legal filing argues Schuman and another one of his accusers, Shannon Ruth, tarnished his public image with false allegations.

Ruth said Carter raped and sexually assaulted her when she was 17 years old.

She said Carter invited her onto a tour bus after a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, Wash., where she alleges that he gave her alcohol and forced her to perform oral sex before he raped her. Ruth also claims she contracted HPV from Carter.

Carter has called both women “opportunists” who are conspiring to take advantage of the #MeToo movement to extort, “defame and vilify” him for financial gain.

He said the Nevada lawsuit filed by Schuman and Ruth caused him and the Backstreet Boys to lose US$2.3 million (about C$3.15 million) in business deals from companies including ABC and Roblox.

In a statement to Rolling Stone, Schuman’s lawyer criticized both Carter’s Nevada counterclaim and his new one in California.

“Carter’s California counter-claim makes the same arguments as his stalled Nevada lawsuit, and both show that his approach to defend sexual assault claims is to attack the victims,” lawyer Karen Barth Menzies told the outlet.

Schuman and Ruth both appeared in the recently released docuseries Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter, where they again detailed their allegations against Carter.

At the time, Carter’s lawyer called Schuman and Ruth, as well as accuser Ashley Repp, a “gang of conspirators” with “outrageous claims.”

Repp has alleged Carter raped her when she was 15 years old.

Carter has never faced any criminal charges in relation to the sexual allegations against him.

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If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse or is involved in an abusive situation, please visit the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime for help. They are also reachable toll-free at 1-877-232-2610.