Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter faces third sexual assault lawsuit
Singer is currently countersuing two other women who have accused him of sexual battery and rape
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Nick Carter is once again facing accusations of sexual assault, this time by an unnamed woman who claims she was 15 years old at the time of the alleged incidents.
On Monday (28 August), the accuser, who identified herself by the initials AR, filed a lawsuit in Las Vegas. In the complaint, she claims that she was sexually assaulted by the Backstreet Boys singer on multiple occasions in 2003 when he was 22 and 23.
She further alleges that Carter “knowingly provided alcohol and drugs” before he assaulted her “despite her repeated refusals and requests for him to stop”.
“The impacts of Carter’s sexual abuse are ceaseless, causing plaintiff severe emotional distress, physical anguish, intimacy issues, and other complex trauma,” reads legal documents obtained by Us Weekly.
It’s also claimed that the then-minor told her mother of the alleged assault, who then reported it to Pennsylvania law enforcement; however, Carter never faced charges over the accusations.
Carter, 43, has denied AR’s allegations, with his lawyer Dale Hayes Jr calling them “ridiculous” and “meritless”.
In a statement shared with TMZ on Tuesday (20 August), Hayes Jr insisted the accuser was “repeating the same false allegations in a new legal complaint [but that] doesn’t make them any more true”.
The “Do I Have To Cry For You” singer is already facing two separate lawsuits from Shannon “Shay” Ruth and Melissa Schuman, a former member of the band Dream.
In Ruth’s suit, filed in December 2022, she claims that she was sexually assaulted by Carter after he invited her onto his tour bus following a Backstreet Boys show in Washington.
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members)
Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music
Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members)
Ruth, who is autistic and has cerebral palsy, claims Carter gave her a pink drink that he dubbed “VIP juice” that tasted alcoholic, before insisting she perform oral sex on him. In court documents, it’s then alleged that Carter raped Ruth, who says she contracted HPV after the incident.
In a statement shared with The Independent, Carter’s attorney Michael Holtz vehemently denied any wrongdoing on behalf of his client, saying that Ruth had been “manipulated into making false allegations about Nick”.
He said: “This claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue.”
Meanwhile, in April Schuman filed a lawsuit accusing Carter of raping her at his flat while the two were working together on a made-for-TV movie. She first went public with the allegations in 2017 on her blog.
Carter has denied Schuman’s allegations, saying that he was “shocked and saddened” by the accusations.
“Melissa never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual,” he said.
Carter has since filed a countersuit against both Ruth and Schuman in February, claiming that the women are “opportunists” who set out to “destroy innocent lives” by taking advantage of the #MeToo movement.
The lawsuit says that Ruth and Schuman launched a five-year conspiracy to “defame and vilify Carter and otherwise ruin his reputation for the purposes of garnering attention and fame and/or extorting money from Carter”.
Responding to the countersuit, Ruth’s attorney Mark J Boskovich told Page Six: “Why should Nick Carter be believed?... A jury will weigh the evidence and decide.”
Carter was a founding member of the Backstreet Boys when they formed in 1993.
If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.