Melissa Schuman, former member of girl group Dream, has sued Nick Carter for sexual assault and assault. The 38-year-old accused the Backstreet Boys singer of raping her in 2003 when she was 18.
reports of ROLLING STONE According to the lawsuit, Carter “used his role, status and power as a renowned singer to [Melissa Schuman] to approach, seduce, manipulate, exploit and sexually assault her.” Carter also continued to manipulate and torment the then 18-year-old after the incident. “Why did you force me to do this?” Carter reportedly texted her after the rape.
Schuman reported on the incident back in November 2017. She described in detail how Carter robbed her of her innocence in his Santa Monica apartment. “He was ruthless, wouldn’t take no from me,” the Silent Scream actress wrote in one blog post. Nick Carter was lying on her and was too heavy to escape from him. “Then I felt it, he pushed something into me,” it says there.
Nick Carter denies allegations
Nick Carter said in 2017 that there was nothing to the allegations. Schuman never said to him that any actions the two performed were not consensual. It goes against the singer’s nature and values to harm someone.
Carter’s attorney, Liane K. Wakayama, claimed in a statement to ROLLING STONE on April 11 that Schuman had been spreading this rumor for years. The allegation was already false in 2017 – and still is. According to Wakayama, it was Schuman’s plan to defame and blackmail Nick Carter. The “PR stunt” will not stop Carter from holding “Ms Schuman and her co-conspirators” accountable for the damage and suffering her actions have caused, she added.
Carter and Schuman met when their respective teams suggested they stage a romantic relationship for publicity reasons. They later starred side by side in the teen television horror film The Hollow. Schuman said she debated with her co-star after the incident about making the event public. After all, she would risk that the film could not be produced to the end. When her manager at the time, Nils Larsen, told her that she would be “buried in humiliation” and irreparably damaged her career if she spoke out, Schuman decided to keep quiet.
As the singer-actress’ solo career never really took off, Schuman questioned in her blog post whether the defendant might play a role in it. Her manager Kenneth Crear, who also counted Nick Carter among his clients, distanced himself after the incident. “I could tell from his tone that he was no longer interested in working with me and I can’t help but wonder if Nick could have had anything to do with it,” she wrote.
Schuman continues to suffer from Nick Carter’s influence
The lawsuit further states that a “well-known and influential executive in the music industry” who is a “close, personal friend” of Carter’s later suggested that the plaintiff record a duet with her alleged rapist. Schuman agreed, on condition that Carter’s part of the song be recorded first. However, the duet was never published and the manager broke off contact with Schuman. In the lawsuit, she accuses Carter of only using the duet as an excuse to publicly stage a friendly relationship between the two.
The impact of sexual abuse is devastating, Schuman said in a 2018 interview “The Daily Beast”. “It affects the rest of your life,” she continued. After all, she has her voice back: “This means more to me than anything else, I’m strong, I won’t shut up and I won’t go away anymore. I’m not scared anymore.”
That same year, Schuman filed a complaint with the Santa Monica Police Department. This was presented to the Los Angeles Attorney General a few months later. However, he decided not to pursue the case, as the matter was already statute-barred in 2013.
Nick Carter faces multiple charges
Another lawsuit is pending in Nevada against Nick Carter for sexual assault. Plaintiff Shannon Ruth testified that Carter invited her onto his tour bus after a concert in 2001. There, the pop artist is said to have forced Ruth to have oral sex, raped her and infected her with a sexually transmitted infection. Shannon Ruth was 17 at the time of the alleged incident. Carter also reportedly called the alleged victim, who says she has autism and cerebral palsy, a “retarded bitch.” Carter is said to have sexually assaulted three other women, Ruth’s lawsuit further states.