Nick Carter sues sexual assault accuser, alleges defamation

Nick Carter has filed a countersuit against singer Melissa Schuman, denying her allegations of sexual assault.
The Backstreet Boys member filed a cross-complaint in the Superior Court of California on July 26, demanding $2.5 million in damages, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY.
In his counterclaim, Carter alleged Schuman made false statements about him when she first accused him of sexual assault in a blog post published in 2017. The counterclaim further alleges that Schuman made several defamatory statements against Carter, calling him a rapist on social media, in a “Fallen Idols” documentary and at a press conference this past year.
“Schuman’s actions were intentional, malicious, oppressive and designed specifically to damage Carter’s contractual relationships and prospective economic advantages and opportunities,” the countersuit claims, adding that “Schuman’s plot to smear Carter’s image” has caused “emotional distress” for his wife, Lauren Kitt Carter, and their three children.
USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Carter and Schuman for comment.
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Schuman’s attorney, Karen Barth Menzies, responded to Carter’s counterclaim in a statement to People magazine, saying the singer’s “approach to defend sexual assault claims is to attack the victims.”
In a complaint filed last year in Los Angeles, Schuman accused Carter of sexually assaulting her in 2003.
Schuman, 39, alleged that Carter, 44, used “his role, status, and power as a well-known singer to gain access to, groom, manipulate, exploit, and sexually assault” her, according to the lawsuit.
In court documents, Schuman said the alleged assault occurred at Carter’s Santa Monica apartment. She alleged Carter forced himself on her despite her telling him “over and over that she was a virgin, that she was saving herself for her future husband, and that she did not want to have sex.”
Schuman, formerly of the pop girl group Dream, also claimed that Carter infected her with HPV, a sexually transmitted virus that can cause genital warts and other health problems.
Carter, who scored multiple top 10 hits as a member of the Backstreet Boys in the late 1990s, was also accused of rape by Shannon “Shay” Ruth. In a 2002 civil lawsuit, Ruth claimed that Carter raped and physically assaulted her on a Backstreet Boys tour bus when she was 17.
Carter was dealt a blow in his court battle against Ruth at a Tuesday hearing in Las Vegas, according to reports.
Clark County Judge Joe Hardy Jr. denied Carter’s motion for a summary judgment, according to Rolling Stone and the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The motion would have ended Ruth’s case without a trial.
“Ms. Ruth is pleased she will be able to show the truth to the jury,” Ruth’s attorney Mark Boskovich told Rolling Stone in a statement Wednesday.
The Backstreet Boys singer faced another legal loss on Tuesday when Judge Hardy dismissed his defamation lawsuit against accuser Ashley Repp, who accused Carter of sexually assaulting her on a Florida yacht when she was 15 (Carter, then 23, claimed in his countersuit that Repp said she was 18 at the time.)
Shannon Ruth sues Nick Carter:Backstreet Boys singer accused of raping 17-year-old girl in 2001
Repp filed a lawsuit against Carter in August 2023, alleging Carter committed sexual battery and infected her with HPV in a trio of assaults in 2003, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Hardy ruled against Carter’s lawsuit, per Rolling Stone and the Review-Journal, arguing that Repp’s description of Carter as a “rapist” was not defamatory given the standard for statutory rape under Florida law.
“The truth is an absolute defense,” Hardy said, according to Rolling Stone. “Based on Carter’s own judicial admissions, they did have sex. They had sexual relations, and she was a minor.”
Contributing: Taijuan Moorman, Morgan Hines and Edward Segarra, USA TODAY