Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter has responded to Melissa Schuman's rape lawsuit in California with a cross-complaint seeking $2.5 million in damages for alleged defamation and interference with current and future business contracts.
The new complaint, which alleges that Schumann “falsely accused” Carter in 2017 of “having a thirst for online significance,” echoes a similar defamation lawsuit that Carter filed against Schumann last year in Clark County, Nevada. That earlier allegation emerged in a cross-complaint to a sexual assault lawsuit filed by Shannon Roth, another rape accuser who alleges Carter penetrated her vaginally on a tour bus in 2001 when she was 17. Carter denies Schumann and Roth’s allegations and alleges in his Nevada filings that the women conspired with Schumann’s father, Jerome Schumann, to harass, defame and blackmail him.
In the Nevada lawsuit in Las Vegas, Carter claims that Roth's 2022 lawsuit caused him and the Backstreet Boys to lose $2,350,000 due to the alleged cancellation of promotional events, contracts and endorsement deals with the ABC television network and its show. Good morning Americalingerie brand MeUndies, travel booking site VRBO, and gaming platform Roblox.
Carter's new complaint filed in Los Angeles alleges that Shuman's “defamatory” statements caused Carter to lose $2.5 million in partnership and endorsement deals with MeUndies, VRBO, Roblox and children's clothing brand The Children's Place.
“In addition, in the past ten months alone, there have been no fewer than four Carter slots. who i am “A solo concert tour resulted in his compensation being significantly reduced following the cessation of ticket sales that came in the wake of Schumann’s defamatory statements. One of these venues canceled Carter’s concert entirely. This also cost Carter hundreds of thousands of dollars,” according to the new mutual complaint first reported by In Touch It was obtained through Rolling Stone Reads.
Schumann's attorney criticized Carter's legal maneuver in a statement sent to Rolling Stone“Carter’s counterclaim in California includes the same arguments he used in his stalled lawsuit in Nevada, both of which show that his approach to defending sexual assault allegations is to attack the victims,” attorney Karen Barth Mezis said Tuesday.
Schuman, a former member of the girl group DREAM, first filed a lawsuit against Carter in April 2023. She alleges the pop star invited her to his Santa Monica apartment while filming the teen horror movie. Al-JawfShe alleges that Carter fed her a tranquilizer cocktail and performed oral sex on her despite her protests before raping her on the bed. She was 18 and a virgin at the time while Carter was about 23, according to her lawsuit.
According to his new counterclaim, Carter claims that he and Shuman were “flirting with each other” throughout the time in question and “eventually had consensual sex.”
“At no time did Carter sexually assault Schumann or anyone else,” the new lawsuit alleges. “Shortly thereafter, Schumann happily and enthusiastically agreed to perform a duet with Carter and then perform with him in a live performance.”
In the recently released Investigation Discovery documentary series, Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron CarterSchumann claims she felt pressured by her manager to record the duet with Carter at the time. She also claims she did not know Carter would be on the show until it was too late.
In addition to Schumann and Roth, a third accuser filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Carter last year. In that complaint, plaintiff Ashley Reeb alleged that Carter raped her multiple times in Florida in 2003 when she was 15 and he was 23.
Schumann, Ruth, and Reb all participated in fallen idols A documentary series about Carter premiered on May 27. Carter's lawyers responded with strong criticism of the women's on-camera interviews.
“These are the same outrageous allegations that led us to prosecute this gang of conspirators,” Carter’s attorneys, Leanne Wakayama and Dale Hayes Jr., said in a statement. “These cases are now working their way through the legal system, and based on the initial court rulings and overwhelming evidence, we have every confidence that we will prevail and hold them accountable for spreading these lies.”
