Nick Carter Sued by Dream Singer Melissa Schuman for Sexual Assault

Nick Carter is being sued by Dream singer Melissa Schuman for sexual assault. The pop singer had originally brought a criminal complaint against the Backstreet Boys member back in 2017, but the District Attorney's office declined to prosecute. TMZ reports that Schuman "believes a new bill amending the statute of limitations for civil actions revives her claim," so she is hoping a judge will look at her case and agree.

In response, Nick's attorney, Liane K. Wakayama, told TMZ: "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." Liane 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."

Notably, Carter is also engaged in a legal battle against another woman who has accused him of sexual assault, and he's claimed to believe that Schuman and her father, Jerome Schuman, were behind the accusations. In December, Shannon "Shay" Ruth filed a lawsuit claiming Carter raped her on the Backstreet Boys tour bus when she was 17, leaving her "infected with HPV." She claimed, "Carter tried to scare me into silence by saying no one would believe me if I told what happened," in a press conference, adding that Carter served her something called "VIP juice" before assaulting her. "He was nasty and threatening, saying I was going to jail if I told."

Carter's legal team filed a countersuit against Ruth, as well as Schuman and her father. Carter claims that the Schumans have been attempting to extort money from him for many years. In their legal filing, Carter's attorneys claim Ruth's sexual assault lawsuit "is the culmination of an approximate five-year conspiracy orchestrated by Counter-Defendants to harass, defame and extort Carter." It goes on to allege "the campaign was launched and bolstered by the #MeToo movement, beginning at its dawn, when Counter-Defendant Melissa Schuman posted a salacious blog entry in November 2017, falsely asserting that she had been sexually assaulted by Carter in 2003." The lawsuit adds that, after being attacked by the Schumans, the pair "were all too eager to welcome a groveling Ruth into their scheme."