Nick Carter denies ‘outrageous’ sex assault claims
May 29, 2024 05:12 pm
Lawyers for singer Nick Carter have described claims of sexual assault made against him in a new documentary as “outrageous”.
Fallen Idols: Nick and Aaron Carter, released this week, includes allegations about the Backstreet Boys singer from three women.
Melissa Schuman, Shannon Ruth and Ashley Repp have alleged assaults during the early 2000s and are suing Carter.
He has filed a countersuit against all three women for defamation.
In a statement to the Los Angeles Times, the singer’s legal team said the women were “spreading falsehoods”.
“These are exactly the same outrageous claims that led us to sue this gang of conspirators,” the statement read.
“Those cases are working their way through the legal system now, and, based on both the initial court rulings and the overwhelming evidence, we have every belief that we will prevail and hold them accountable for spreading these falsehoods.”
The singer reportedly declined to take part in the new four-part docuseries, which premiered in the US on Monday.
Ms Ruth filed a civil sexual battery lawsuit against Carter in 2022, alleging he raped her in 2001, when she was 17, following a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, Washington.
A representative for Carter called the allegations “legally meritless” and “entirely untrue”.
Carter countersued Ms Ruth two months after she filed her suit, describing her as an “opportunist” who allegedly conspired with Ms Schuman to extort him.
Ms Schuman, a former member of girl group Dream, accused Carter of rape in 2017, but prosecutors did not file charges because the statute of limitations had expired.
She then filed a civil lawsuit in April 2023, alleging Carter sexually assaulted her in 2002 in Santa Monica when he was 22 and she was 18.
Ms Repp filed her lawsuit in August 2023, alleging Carter assaulted her three times in Florida in 2003 when she was 15 and he was 23.
Carter’s lawyer called Ms Repp’s accusations “ridiculous” and added her to the defamation countersuit in January 2024.
The series, broadcast by Investigation Discovery, also examines the rift between Carter and his late brother.
Before his death, singer Aaron Carter publicly supported the women who accused his older brother of sexual assault.
The docuseries also studies the mental health struggles of Aaron Carter before he died at the age of 34 in November 2022.
Source: BBC
--Agencies
