The Backstreet Boys singer accuses the former member of girl group Dream of defamation and extortion after she is suing him for an alleged incident in 2002, which she first spoke about in 2017.
- Apr 11, 2023
AceShowbiz - Nick Carter is maintaining his innocence amid renewed rape allegations by Melissa Schuman. The Backstreet Boys star has fired back after he is sued by the former member of girl group Dream for sexual assault and battery, calling the move "pathetic" and "PR stunt."
In a statement to TMZ, Nick's attorney Liane K. Wakayama says, "Melissa Schuman has been peddling this tale for many years, but her allegation was false when she first made it back in 2017 - and it still is. A judge in Nevada recently ruled, after reviewing the extensive evidence we laid out, that there are strong grounds for Nick Carter to proceed with his lawsuit against Ms. Schuman for plotting to damage, defame and extort Nick, his associates, his friends and his family."
"In light of our progress in Nevada, this kind of response is at once both predictable and pathetic," the lawyer continues. "But this PR stunt won't shake Nick from his determination to hold Ms. Schuman and her co-conspirators to account for the immeasurable pain and suffering their extortionate conduct has caused."
Melissa first spoke up about the alleged sexual assault in November 2017, in the wake of the #MeToo movement. She claimed Nick forcibly performed oral sex on her and made her do the same to him in 2002, when she was 18 and he was 22. She said the alleged incident took place in Santa Monica.
Melissa went on claiming that the "I Want It That Way" singer proceeded to take her virginity, even though she told him she was saving herself for marriage.
In February 2018, she filed a report with the Santa Monica Police Department, hoping Nick would face criminal charges. But the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office declined to prosecute because the statute of limitations had expired.
With a California law that amends the statute of limitations for civil actions going into effect earlier this year, Melissa revives her claim and is looking to take it all to a judge. "I've faced extraordinary backlash for standing up for myself; I am not the first, however my intention is that I am the last," she told The Post in a statement on Tuesday, April 11.
"It's time that powerful figures in the music industry get the message that they can no longer afford to enable and protect sexual predators," the now-38-year-old singer added. "I'm fighting to make the music industry a safer place to work and perform."
Nick has repeatedly denied Melissa's allegations of non-consensual contact and even filed a countersuit against her and Shannon Ruth, who, in December 2022, sued him for allegedly raping her on a tour bus in 2001 when she was 17. In his countersuit for defamation and extortion, the boyband member claimed the two women were involved in a "conspiracy" against him.
