Nick Carter Sues Rape Accuser Melissa Schuman for $2.5 Million
Schuman first came forward in 2017.
Nick Carter refuses to have his name attached to rape. The Backstreet Boys sensation has been accused of rape and/or sexual misconduct by several women in recent years, much of which was highlighted and magnified in a recent MAX docuseries surrounding him and his late brother, rapper Aaron Carter. Former Bad Boy Records artist, also a member of Dream, Melissa Schuman, was heavily featured in the docuseries and alleged that Nick raped her when she was a teenager. Now, Nick is countersuing her.
Variety reports the boy band member denies her allegations and demands $2.5 million in damages. Schuman initially filed suit in April 2023. Another accuser, Shannon Ruth, sued Carter in 2022 for sexual assault.
Schuman says the assault took place in 2003 while they both were filming a teen horror movie The Hollow, after Nick invited her, to hang out after set. She says she and her roommate went to his Santa Monica apartment, where he and his friend Tony Bass made them drinks. Schuman alleges her drink was laced with a sedative and he began kissing her after they went into a separate room. In the suit, she says he then brought her to the bathroom and performed oral sex on her despite her protests, which eventually turned into intercourse in a separate room after they were interrupted, which she says she also protested. In the docuseries, she said her label wanted them to date for publicity, explaining they'd met a time earlier.
Schuman claims she shared what happened with her close circle, and even had a rape kit performed on her. In his countersuit, Nick claims he and Schuman were flirtatious with one another throughout the night, and they fell asleep after a night of drinking. The suit claims that Nick and Schuman lay next to each other on the bed, while Bass and Green were on the ground a few feet from them. Nick claims they had consensual sex. He says she changed her story years later to salvage her career, using her 2014 YouTube video titled "I need to Become Important On the Internet" as evidence. He also says she and her father planned his shakedown, which he says cost him various business dealings since she went public in a 2017 blog with her account.