Nick Carter is being sued for sexual assault and battery by Melissa Schuman, a former member of the girl group Dream.
The lawsuit, obtained by Us Weekly on Wednesday, April 12, alleges that the Backstreet Boys member, now 43, raped Schuman, now 38, when she was 18 and he was 22. The New York native allegedly performed oral sex on her and made “He Loves U Not” singer do the same despite her protests before forcing her to have intercourse, the docs claim. The teenager was a virgin at the time and told Carter that she was saving herself for marriage.
Schuman first made these allegations on her blog in 2017 and filed a police report the following year. The lawsuit is now being filed after a recent bill amended the statute of limitations for civil actions.
Carter’s lawyer, Liane K. Wakayama, denied Schuman’s accusations in a statement to Us on Wednesday: “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. A judge in Nevada recently ruled, after reviewing the extensive evidence we laid out, that there are strong grounds for Nick Carter to proceed with his lawsuit against Ms. Schuman for plotting to damage, defame and extort Nick, his associates, his friends and his family.”
Wakayama continued: “In light of our progress in Nevada, this kind of response is at once both predictable and pathetic. But 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.”
Amid the suit making headlines, the “I Want It That Way” performer shared a family photo via Twitter with the Easter Bunny. He and wife Lauren Kitt, who married in 2014, smiled with their children: son Odin, 6, as well as daughters Saoirse, 3, and Pearl, 11 months.
In her 2017 blog post, the California native alleged that she and a friend went to the Backstreet Boys singer’s apartment after he invited them during a day off from filming the 2004 TV movie The Hollow. Schuman claimed that the “Shape of My Heart” crooner brought her into a bathroom and they kissed. He then allegedly forced himself on her.
“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 at the time. “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.” Shuman shared that she considered pressing charges against Carter, but was told she “would likely be buried in humiliation, accused of being fame hungry, and it would ultimately hurt me professionally as well as publicly.”
This is the second lawsuit filed against carter for sexual assault in the last six months. Shannon Ruth sued him in December 2022 for sexual battery and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Ruth — who is on the autism spectrum and has cerebral palsy — claimed that Carter exposed himself to her after a Tacoma, Washington, concert in 2001. The Dancing With the Stars alum allegedly invited the then-17-year-old to join him on his tour bus while she was waiting in line for an autograph and then forced her to perform oral sex on him “under duress.” Like Schuman, Ruth noted in her suit that she was a virgin prior to the alleged rape.
The boy bander denied the allegations. “Unfortunately, for several years now, Ms. Ruth has been manipulated into making false allegations about Nick – and those allegations have changed repeatedly and materially over time,” his representative said a the time. “No one should be fooled by a press stunt orchestrated by an opportunistic lawyer – there is nothing to this claim whatsoever, which we have no doubt the courts will quickly realize.”
ABC subsequently pulled the Backstreet Boys’ Christmas special, which had already been filmed, and the group’s iHeartRadio Jingle Ball performance was not televised following Ruth’s accusations.
In a countersuit against both women plus Schuman’s father, Jerome Schuman, and an anonymous Twitter handle filed in February, Carter’s legal team claims that Melissa and her dad concocted a scheme to influence Ruth and others to make allegations against the Masked Singer alum. Carter claims he has no memory of Shannon and isn’t sure they ever met. The docs also allege that Schuman and Carter had consensual sex. He is suing both women for emotional distress damages, punitive damages and other relief totaling $2.35 million.
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.
