Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter has filed a countersuit against his sexual assault accuser Melissa Schuman, denying her allegations and demanding $2.5 million in damages.
The cross-complaint, filed in the Superior Court of California on July 26, was made in response to Schuman’s initial suit in April 2023. It comes amid an ongoing legal battle with Schuman and another accuser, Shannon Ruth, who sued Carter in 2022 for sexual assault.
In her initial suit, Schuman, best known as the lead singer of early 2000s girl group Dream, claimed that the assault took place in 2003 while they both were filming a teen horror movie “The Hollow” in Los Angeles. She alleged that Carter invited her to hang out one day after filming. Schuman, who was 18 at the time, brought along her roommate Rachel Green to Carter’s apartment in Santa Monica, where he and his friend Tony Bass made them drinks. She claimed that Carter put a sedative in her beverage and, after inviting her to hear new music in his office, began kissing her. He then brought her to the bathroom and performed oral sex on her despite her protests.
After Bass knocked on the door, Carter relocated to another bathroom with Schuman and forced her to perform sexual acts on him. They then went to the bedroom where she claims he raped her. In the days that followed, she shared her story with Green, Green’s mother, her family members and her therapist about the incident.
Carter’s countersuit, first reported by InTouch, denies these allegations. His version of events describes an evening where he and Schuman were flirtatious with one another throughout the night, and after drinking and hanging out, the four of them went to the bedroom to sleep. The suit claims that Carter and Schuman lay next to each other on the bed, while Bass and Green were on the ground a few feet from them. Carter’s complaint states that he and Schuman engaged in consensual sex, which Bass overheard. Green recalled the evening being “enjoyable” and had no idea that any assault had occurred.
Carter alleges that Schuman made up her version of events years after the night in question to salvage her own career. The suit states that Schuman “publicly acknowledges her dwindling career and thirst for internet relevance,” pointing to a 2014 YouTube video she posted that was titled “I need to Become Important On the Internet.” He also asserted that Schuman and her father recruited and groomed third parties to defame him.
Schuman first went public with her allegations in a blog post in 2017. That same year, she filed a police report but no charges were ever brought against Carter. Carter’s suit details how she pushed defamatory claims against him in the years that followed, and how they cost him significant losses to his business dealings including endorsement deals with MeUndies, VRBO, Roblox and more that totaled millions.
Representatives and attorneys for Carter and Schuman did not respond to Variety‘s request for comment.
This is the latest in Carter’s ongoing legal issues pertaining to sexual assault. In Dec. 2022, Ruth filed suit against Carter in Clark County, Nevada, alleging that he forced her to perform oral sex on her after a Backstreet Boys concert in 2001. In response, Carter filed a countersuit in Feb. 2023, naming Ruth, Schuman and Schuman’s father as defendants.
In his latest countersuit against Schuman, Carter is seeking $2.5 million in damages with an exact amount to be proven at trial.
