After being served with a civil lawsuit accusing him of rape last December, Nick Carter has once again been sued for sexual assault and battery.
Second plaintiff Melissa Schuman — previously of 2000s girl group Dream — had previously accused the Backstreet Boys singer of raping her in 2003, when she was 18, in a blog post dating back to 2017. He was not prosecuted due to the statute of limitations.
In the new lawsuit obtained by Rolling Stone, Schuman accuses Carter of using "his role, status and power as a well-known singer to gain access to, groom, manipulate, exploit and sexually assault" her.
The following article contains potentially triggering material relating to sexual misconduct. If you believe you have experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct and are looking for support, consult the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime to find resources in your area.
The two met when they were cast as co-stars in the 2004 teen horror movie The Hollow. After the alleged assault, Schuman claims that production may have been shut down on the film if she made a complaint against Carter, with her then-manager Nils Larsen allegedly telling her that she would be "buried in humiliation" and face irreparable damage to her career.
The document further accuses Carter of going on to "manipulate and torment" the plaintiff following the alleged assault, allegedly texting, "Why did you make me do that," and making repeated attempts to contact Schuman by phone.
As Schuman detailed on her blog in 2017, Carter allegedly forced himself on her at his Santa Monica apartment. "He was relentless, refusing to take my nos for an answer," she wrote. "He was heavy, too heavy to get out from under him. Then I felt it, he put something inside of me."
Carter denied the allegations in 2017. At the time, he said that Schuman had "never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual … It is contrary to my nature and everything I hold dear to intentionally cause someone discomfort or harm."
Carter's attorney Liane K. Wakayama told Rolling Stone in a statement, "Melissa Schuman has been peddling this tale for many years, but her allegation was false when she first made it back in 2017 — and it still is." Wakayama accused Schuman of "plotting to damage, defame and extort Nick, his associates, his friends and his family," but assured that this "PR stunt won't shake Nick from his determination to hold Ms. Schuman and her co-conspirators to account for the immeasurable pain and suffering their extortionate conduct has caused."
In a countersuit against Shannon "Shay" Ruth, who accused Carter of raping her on a tour bus in 2001 last year, the boy bander's legal team argued that the plaintiff was being "manipulated into making false allegations by Melissa Schuman and her father, Jerome." Ruth claimed in February that Carter was trying to "silence" her with the $2.35 million USD counterclaim, wherein Schuman and her father are named as co-defendants.
Second plaintiff Melissa Schuman — previously of 2000s girl group Dream — had previously accused the Backstreet Boys singer of raping her in 2003, when she was 18, in a blog post dating back to 2017. He was not prosecuted due to the statute of limitations.
In the new lawsuit obtained by Rolling Stone, Schuman accuses Carter of using "his role, status and power as a well-known singer to gain access to, groom, manipulate, exploit and sexually assault" her.
The following article contains potentially triggering material relating to sexual misconduct. If you believe you have experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct and are looking for support, consult the Canadian Resource Centre for Victims of Crime to find resources in your area.
The two met when they were cast as co-stars in the 2004 teen horror movie The Hollow. After the alleged assault, Schuman claims that production may have been shut down on the film if she made a complaint against Carter, with her then-manager Nils Larsen allegedly telling her that she would be "buried in humiliation" and face irreparable damage to her career.
The document further accuses Carter of going on to "manipulate and torment" the plaintiff following the alleged assault, allegedly texting, "Why did you make me do that," and making repeated attempts to contact Schuman by phone.
As Schuman detailed on her blog in 2017, Carter allegedly forced himself on her at his Santa Monica apartment. "He was relentless, refusing to take my nos for an answer," she wrote. "He was heavy, too heavy to get out from under him. Then I felt it, he put something inside of me."
Carter denied the allegations in 2017. At the time, he said that Schuman had "never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual … It is contrary to my nature and everything I hold dear to intentionally cause someone discomfort or harm."
Carter's attorney Liane K. Wakayama told Rolling Stone in a statement, "Melissa Schuman has been peddling this tale for many years, but her allegation was false when she first made it back in 2017 — and it still is." Wakayama accused Schuman of "plotting to damage, defame and extort Nick, his associates, his friends and his family," but assured that this "PR stunt won't shake Nick from his determination to hold Ms. Schuman and her co-conspirators to account for the immeasurable pain and suffering their extortionate conduct has caused."
In a countersuit against Shannon "Shay" Ruth, who accused Carter of raping her on a tour bus in 2001 last year, the boy bander's legal team argued that the plaintiff was being "manipulated into making false allegations by Melissa Schuman and her father, Jerome." Ruth claimed in February that Carter was trying to "silence" her with the $2.35 million USD counterclaim, wherein Schuman and her father are named as co-defendants.
