Nick Carter Is Facing Sexual Assault Allegations From Four Women

In a February 2016 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, former Backstreet Boy Nick Carter looked back on a career that had spanned more than two decades. The then 36-year-old was about to release his third solo album and was gearing up for a world tour. He also hinted at a new Backstreet Boys album which in all likelihood ended up being DNA, their ninth studio album which was released in 2019.

Carter appeared to be in good spirits as he talked about his life in the entertainment industry, which began when he was only 13 years old. When asked about the past and in particular what he missed most about the early days of the Backstreet Boys, Carter said he longed for his anonymity. A little over a year later, he would have even less privacy as the first of four sexual allegations were lodged against him. Here's what we know about the allegations.

In October 2017, Radar Online reported that in 2006 an unidentified woman filed an incident report with the West Allis Police Department in Wisconsin where she lived. According to the report, law enforcement spoke with the victim at West Allis Memorial Hospital about a situation that occurred on March 26, 2006, and March 27, 2006, in Florida.

She told police that her cousin is friends with Carter and he offered to fly them to Key West, Fla. Once there, they grabbed a bite to eat and checked out real estate for Carter with him and his friend, Rob Kalouch. The group started drinking when they went back to Kalouch's house. The victim said she was tipsy and not drunk when Carter allegedly grabbed her breasts and digitally penetrated her without her consent. She also alleged that Kalouch followed her to a bathroom and forced his penis into her mouth. She chose not to press charges.

After hearing about this story a month after it broke, Melissa Schuman decided it was time to tell her own. Schuman was previously in the girl band Dream, and claims she was working on a movie when the incident occurred in 2002, per The Guardian. Apparently Carter raped her in his apartment after she said no and revealed she was a virgin who was waiting for marriage. She went on to say that the alleged assault traumatized her but she was able to "lock it away."

In a statement to the outlet, Carter denied knowing that whatever transpired between them was anything but consensual. "This is the first that I am hearing about these accusations, nearly two decades later," he said. "It is contrary to my nature and everything I hold dear to intentionally cause someone discomfort or harm." In September 2018, CNN reported that "prosecutors in Los Angeles will not pursue sexual assault charges against singer Nick Carter because the statute of limitations has expired."

Five years later, Schuman sued Carter for sexual assault and sexual battery. In the lawsuit she alleged that Carter "used his status and platform as an 'international multiplatinum recording pop star' to 'groom, manipulate, exploit, and sexually assault' her," per The Hollywood Reporter.

Four years after Los Angeles prosecutors said they couldn't bring charges against Carter, Shannon Ruth also sued Carter in December 2022. Court documents obtained by TMZ state that Ruth was 17 years old at the time of the alleged assault in 2001. Ruth claimed she was "invited by Carter to his tour bus after a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, Wash., while waiting in the autograph line." While there he gave the teenager, who has autism and cerebral palsy, what she believes was a cranberry and vodka drink.

Ruth then alleged that Carter forced her to perform oral sex on him in the bathroom of the tour bus even though she was sobbing the entire time. The court documents also state that he raped her on a bed in the back of the bus although she was a virgin at the time. She later claimed to have contracted HPV from this assault.

In August 2023, a woman known as A.R. filed a lawsuit against Carter where she alleged he sexually assaulted her multiple times in 2003, via 8 News Now. At the time she was 15 years old and stated the incidents happened on his yacht. Like Ruth, A.R. claimed she contracted HPV from Carter who also denied these claims.

In February 2023, Carter counter-sued both Schumann and Ruth claiming they "took advantage of the #MeToo movement and used it to launch 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,'" reported People. It also refers to the victims as opportunists who cost him $2.3 million in losses. Schumann then attempted to file an Anti-SLAPP motion which was denied by Judge Nancy Allf.

As of the time of this writing, Carter is free to pursue his defamation counter-suits against Schumann and Ruth. At a hearing in August 2023, Carter's attorney said in a statement that, "Today’s ruling confirms that Nick will be able to pursue that truth to its inevitable conclusion and expose the Schumans’ and their co-conspirators’ deceit and deplorable conduct."