Nick Carter is sustaining his innocence after he was accused of sexual assault by a number of ladies.
In response to court docket paperwork obtained by Us Weekly, Carter filed a movement for abstract judgment on Tuesday, Could 7, towards Shannon Ruth, who beforehand filed a lawsuit towards the singer claiming he raped her when she was 17 years previous. Within the submitting, Carter’s authorized staff claimed that Ruth was “determined for her two minutes of fame.”
“Ruth’s purpose was easy — acquire as a lot consideration as potential in hopes that Carter could be canceled. For a quick second it labored,” the submitting learn. “ABC canceled the Backstreet Boys’ Christmas particular, A Very Backstreet Vacation, and Carter was left combating for his innocence and his household. Now, over a yr later, Carter has obtained all the proof essential to show that he has been telling the reality all alongside — he didn’t rape Ruth or anybody else for that matter.”
Carter’s attorneys alleged that Ruth, together with different ladies accusing him of sexual assault together with Melissa Schuman and plaintiff recognized as A.R. have “orchestrated” the allegations as a part of a “plan to garner fame and extort Carter out of cash.” Carter and his staff additionally accused Ruth of fabricating her testimony, claiming it was a “factual impossibility.”
Us has reached out to Ruth, Schuman and A.R. for remark.
In December 2022, Ruth sued Carter for sexual battery and accused him of assaulting her following a 2001 Backstreet Boys live performance. Ruth claimed the musician invited her to hitch him on his tour bus whereas she was ready in line for an autograph after the present, per docs obtained by Us. She alleged that Carter uncovered himself to her and had her carry out oral intercourse on him “underneath duress.”
Carter vehemently denied the allegations. “This declare about an incident that supposedly occurred greater than 20 years in the past shouldn’t be solely legally meritless but in addition totally unfaithful,” the musician’s rep instructed Us in an announcement in December 2022. “Sadly, for a number of years now, Ms. Ruth has been manipulated into making false allegations about Nick – and people allegations have modified repeatedly and materially over time. Nobody ought to be fooled by a press stunt orchestrated by an opportunistic lawyer – there’s nothing to this declare by any means, which we have now little doubt the courts will shortly understand.”
At a listening to in Las Vegas in March 2023, a choose dominated that Carter might file a counterclaim towards Ruth after he alleged that she falsely accused him in an extortion try.
Ruth shouldn’t be the one particular person to accuse Carter of sexual assault. Final yr, Schuman, who was a singer for the woman group Dream, additionally sued Carter for sexual assault and battery. Within the lawsuit, Melissa claimed that Carter allegedly carried out oral intercourse on her and made her do the identical to him regardless of her protests earlier than he raped her.
Whereas Melissa filed the lawsuit in 2023, she first made the allegations in a 2017 weblog put up and filed a police report the next yr. Carter’s lawyer, Liane Ok. Wakayama, denied Schuman’s accusations in an announcement to Us.
“Melissa Schuman has been peddling this story for a few years, however her allegation was false when she first made it again in 2017 — and it nonetheless is,” the April 2023 assertion learn. “A choose in Nevada not too long ago dominated, after reviewing the in depth proof we laid out, that there are sturdy grounds for Nick Carter to proceed along with his lawsuit towards Ms. Schuman for plotting to wreck, defame and extort Nick, his associates, his pals and his household.”
Should you or somebody you already know has been sexually assaulted, contact the Nationwide Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).