Nick Carter has filed a countersuit for defamation. A US singer accuses him of alleged sexual assault.
Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter (44) is defending himself against the allegations made by Melissa Schuman (39) with a countersuit. The singer sued him last year for an alleged sexual assault. In his countersuit, Carter now denies the allegations and is suing the singer for 2.5 million US dollars (around 2.3 million euros) in damages, citing court documents.
The former Dream member accuses Carter of first forcing her to perform oral sex and then forcing her to have sexual intercourse in 2003, when she was 18 and he was 22. Schuman last filed a civil lawsuit in April 2023. She had already made the allegations years earlier, but at the time the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office decided not to bring official charges against Carter. The reason: The incident had expired. Last year, a change in the law again opened up the possibility for the singer to take legal action against Carter.
In Nick Carter’s countersuit filed in California Supreme Court at the end of July, the singer now claims that Schuman made false statements when she first accused him of sexual assault in her blog in 2017. She subsequently backed up these allegations in several interviews, the lawsuit states. She also made defamatory statements on social media and in a documentary.
Carter denies the allegations, stressing that their sexual encounter was consensual and that Schuman’s accusations are an attempt to revive her “fading career” and damage his reputation. Schuman’s lawyer responded to Carter’s recent countersuit, telling People in a statement: “Carter’s countersuit in California contains the same arguments as his stalled lawsuit in Nevada, and both show that his approach to defending himself against sexual assault is to attack the victims.” The Nevada case involves Shannon Ruth, who also accuses the star of an alleged sexual assault that allegedly took place after a concert in 2001.
Nick Carter responded to documentary with lawyers
Ruth and Schuman appear in the documentary “Fallen Idols: Aaron and Nick Carter,” which was released in May. The four-part documentary series includes interviews with the two and Ashley Repp. All three women accuse Carter of sexual assault. The musician has taken legal action against the documentary series. “These are exactly the same outrageous allegations that led us to sue this band of conspirators,” said Carter’s attorney Dale Hayes Jr. “We are confident that we will prevail and hold them accountable for spreading these falsehoods.”
Source: Stern
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