AJ McLean is defending his Backstreet Boys bandmate Nick Carter amid sexual assault allegations against him. “I totally support my brother,” McLean, 39, told TMZ on Tuesday, December 5. “He is a gentleman, a scholar and a father and a dear friend and I completely support him.”
He added: “I think it’s all bogus.”
As previously reported, former Dream member Melissa Schulman wrote on her blog, Melissa Explains It All, on November 18 that Carter raped her when she was 18 and he was 22.
“My thought was the only way to get out was to get him to finish what he had started,” the “This Is Me” singer wrote in part. “That’s where I saw myself, my reflection, watching myself do something that I was sickened by. Watching myself be assaulted, forced to engage in an act against my will.”
Carter, however, has denied 33-year-old Schulman’s allegations. “I am shocked and saddened by Ms. Schuman’s accusations. Melissa never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual,” he told Us Weekly in a statement on Wednesday, November 22. “We went on to record a song and perform together, and I was always respectful and supportive of Melissa both personally and professionally. This is the first that I am hearing about these accusations, nearly two decades later. It is contrary to my nature and everything I hold dear to intentionally cause someone discomfort or harm.”
While McLean openly dismissed Schulman’s accusations against Carter on Tuesday, he said he stands by victims of sexual assault who have come forward in recent months. “I do also support the #MeToo movement,” he said to TMZ. “I don’t want anyone to discredit any victims, anyone who has been through such horrible situations, but I support my brother. I think he’s innocent.”
He added: “Bottom line: I support my brother. He’s an absolute gentleman. It is not in his nature. He is not that kind of person.”
