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Nick Carter is reportedly facing a civil lawsuit over accusations of allegedly assaulting and abusing a 17-year-old girl on a Backstreet Boys tour bus back in 2001.
The legal document filed in Clark County alleges that the musician abused Shannon Shay Ruth as well as three other women, all identified as Jane Doe. Ruth is reportedly seeking monetary damages, including punitive and compensatory, to cover the medical expenses required to treat the aftermath of the alleged abuse.
On Thursday, a visibly emotional Ruth opened up about her suffering during a press conference and said:
“The last 21 years have been filled with pain, confusion, frustration, shame and self-harm that are a direct result of Nick Carter r*ping me. Even though I am autistic and live with cerebral palsy, I believe that nothing has affected me more.
She added that she decided to sue the singer to prevent him from assaulting more victims:
“My motivation for coming forward today and filing this lawsuit is to stop Nick Carter from assaulting more teens and women.”
Ruth’s attorney Mark Boskovich said that the victim attended a Backstreet Boys concert in Tacoma, Washington, in February 2001 and met Carter in a queue for autographs after the show. He alleged that the singer invited Ruth to the band's tour bus shortly after and gave her a “funny-tasting beverage” called “VIP juice.”
The lawyer alleged that Carter took Ruth to the washroom after she finished the drink and began his assault despite the victim pleading for him to stop:
“Every time Shay said no and tried to get away from Carter, he'd get angry and push her back down on that bed.”
Ruth claimed that Carter called her an ableist slur, grabbed and bruised her arm, and said no one would believe her when she told him that she would tell people about his assault. The lawsuit also alleges that the musician infected Ruth and the other women with HPV.
The victim concluded her statement saying, “no celebrity is above the law.” She alleged that Carter took away her “childhood and innocence,” but he could not take away her “strength and truth.”
Prior to the latest allegations, actress and singer Melissa Schuman also made similar allegations against Nick Carter. She claimed that the latter allegedly assaulted her after they were cast together for the 2004 TV movie The Hollow. Schuman was 18 at the time, while Carter was 22.
A look into Melissa Schuman’s allegations against Nick Carter
Melissa Schuman opened up about her abuse allegations against Nick Carter in a 2017 blog post titled, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anybody.” The Dream band singer alleged that the encounter took place after she was cast for The Hollow alongside Carter.
Schuman claimed that Carter assaulted her during a day off from work while they were hanging out with friends at the latter’s apartment:
“He threw me on the bed and climbed on top of me. Again, I told him that I was a virgin… He was relentless, refusing to take my no’s for an answer. He was heavy, too heavy to get out from under him.”
The actress said at the time that she did not know how to protect herself from Nick Carter while maintaining a working relationship with the singer:
“There was no blueprint to how to protect yourself in the situation that I was in. I did everything that I could. I started by avoiding him completely. That was my first response, to just stay away, never be in the same room, never be in the same space.”
Schuman said she even locked herself in her trailer at times and did everything in her power to protect herself. She also said that she shared the incident with her friends and family but did not have a platform to address the situation publicly.
The Silent Scream actress said that she even discussed the issue with her manager Nils Larsen and told him she wanted to go public with her story. The latter even attempted to find her a good attorney, but later informed that her abuser had the “most powerful litigator in the country.”
Schuman added that she realized that she did not have “the money, the clout or access to an attorney” to stand against Nick Carter.
“I was told I would likely be buried in humiliation, accused of being fame hungry, and it would ultimately hurt me professionally as well as publicly.”
When her manager warned her that going public with the situation would also mean the production of the film getting shut down, Schuman realized she also had to deal with the risk of destroying her dreams:
“Not only was I assaulted, I was now at risk of that experience completely destroying my dreams. What do you do in that situation?”
The singer said at the time that she had the urge to protect herself “from being further impacted by what had happened” while avoiding her abuser. However, as Schuman started to pursue her solo career, she ended up in Nick Carter’s circle again.
The performer began working with Kenneth Crear, who also managed Carter. Schuman told The Daily Beast that even though she knew Carter was on the same roster, she did not know that by signing Crear, she would not be able to maintain the distance from Nick Carter she worked for:
“Essentially what ended up happening was I became vulnerable again.”
Crear went on to make Schuman record a duet with Nick Carter and also made the duo perform together at a label showcase. The actress also claimed that the manager ghosted after she had a tense interaction with Carter during the show:
“I could tell by his tone that he was no longer interested in working for me and I couldn’t help but wonder if Nick had any influence in it.”
Melissa Schuman said that the assault affected her psychologically, emotionally as well as physically:
“My response was not just emotional and mental, but it was physical. I felt like I couldn’t sing anymore.”
Reflecting on the abuse, Schuman mentioned that such incidents affect individuals for the rest of their lives:
“The effects are tremendous. It’s not just the assault. It affects the rest of your life. It’s still affecting my life, that’s why I’m here talking to you about it!”
However, she mentioned that she is no longer scared of the situation:
“The one thing that I have, is I have my voice back. And that means more to me than anything else, is that I am empowered, and I’m not shutting up, and I’m not going away. I’m not scared anymore.”
Nick Carter denied the accusations made by Melissa Schuman in the past and claimed that their interactions were consensual:
“I am shocked and saddened by Ms. Schuman’s accusations. Melissa never expressed to me while we were together or at any time since that anything we did was not consensual."
He added:
“We went on to record a song and perform together, and I was always respectful and supportive of Melissa both personally and professionally.”
In 2018, the Santa Monica Police Department confirmed that it had begun an investigation into the misconduct allegations made by Schuman against Carter. Reports suggest that the department reportedly presented the case to the D.A.’s office, where it is currently under review.
What did Nick Carter say about the latest lawsuit against him?
Nick Carter's attorney Michael Holtz denied the allegations made against the singer by Shannon Shay Ruth and three other women in the new lawsuit. He said the claims are untrue and Ruth has been manipulated into doing this:
“This claim about an incident that supposedly took place more than 20 years ago is not only legally meritless but also entirely untrue. Unfortunately, for several years now, Ms. Ruth has been manipulated into making false allegations about Nick and those allegations have changed repeatedly and materially over time.”
The attorney also referred to the accusations as a “press stunt”:
“No one should be fooled by a press stunt orchestrated by an opportunistic lawyer – there is nothing to this claim whatsoever, which we have no doubt the courts will quickly realize.”
The latest controversy comes just a month after Nick Carter’s younger brother Aaron Carter was found dead at the latter’s California residence.
