AJ McLean Says Backstreet Boys Stand With Nick Carter Amid Rape Allegation

The Backstreet Boys are standing by Nick Carter amid sexual assault allegations facing the 42-year-old boy band member. Carter’s bandmate, AJ McLean, made it clear to TMZ that the band was supporting Carter amid his legal battle and had no plans to break up.

“Listen man, it’s an ongoing legal thing and we all stand behind Nick. We all fully support him, and we love him,” he said when asked by a TMZ cameraman at LAX Thursday. “He’s doing as good as he can,” he said of Carter, noting that the band “couldn’t be more solid.”

Earlier this month, Shannon “Shay” Ruth held a press conference alleging Carter had sexually assaulted her in 2001 when she was just 17 years old. Ruth claimed Carter lured her onto his tour bus after a concert in Tacoma, Washington and forced her to engage in sexual activity with him after giving her a drink she said she believed to contain alcohol.

“Even though I’m autistic and live with cerebral palsy, I believe that nothing has affected me more or had a more lasting impact on my life than what Nick Carter did and said to me,” the now 39-year-old alleged. “After he raped me, I remember him calling me a ‘re-ed b-h’ and grabbing me and leaving bruises on my arm.”

Ruth also filed a lawsuit the same day alongside three anonymous women identified only as Jane Does who also claimed Carter sexually assaulted them. Carter’s attorney, Michael Holtz, has since denied all of the allegations against his client. “This claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue,” Holtz told Page Six in a statement.

“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,” the attorney continued. “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.”